March housing market transactions rebound, with 100 leading property developers experiencing a month-on-month sales increase of 127.1%

Source: Shanghai Securities News Author: Zhang Liang

Under a series of policies that continue to provide support, warmth has begun to show on the sales end of the real estate market in this year’s first quarter, displaying an overall positive trend of stability with improvement. On April 1, the latest data released by research institutions showed that in March, the transaction area for newly built commercial housing in the nation’s top 50 key cities was approximately 11.33 million square meters, up 89% month-over-month; the transaction area for secondhand homes in the nation’s top 20 key cities was approximately 17.97 million square meters, up 117% month-over-month. At the same time, the sales end of property developers also saw a clear rebound: in March, 100 typical property developers achieved sales equity amounts of RMB 206.52 billion, up 127.1% month-over-month.

Sales revenue of 16 property developers reached 100 billion yuan

Since the beginning of this year, recovery signals for the real estate market have continued to be released. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in February 2026, the month-over-month declines in the sales prices of commercial housing in 70 large and medium-sized cities continued to narrow, and the number of cities where the month-over-month sales prices of newly built commercial housing increased or were flat compared with the previous month increased from the prior month. Data monitored by the Purui Zhishuo Research Center show that in March, the transaction area for newly built commercial housing in the nation’s top 50 key cities was approximately 11.33 million square meters, up 89% month-over-month.

The sales end of property developers has turned notably warmer. According to statistics from the Purui Zhishuo Research Center, in March, 100 typical property developers achieved sales equity amounts of RMB 206.52 billion in a single month, up 127.1% month-over-month; in the first quarter, cumulative sales equity amounts reached RMB 426.12 billion.

Wang Lin, research supervisor at the China Index Academy, said that most property developers are seizing the key period in March, accelerating project launches and promotions. In March, companies including China Merchants Properties, China Oceanwide? Wait, no—let’s translate exactly: China Overseas? Actually original lists: 中海地产、招商蛇口、中国金茂、兴耀房产、中建智地、联发集团.
Wang Lin said that in March, companies such as China Overseas Property, China Merchants Shekou, China Jinmao, Xingyao Real Estate, China Construction Smartland, and Ever Prosper Group (Lianfa Group) saw明显同比增长 in sales performance. These companies, either central SOEs or state-owned enterprises, or region-focused private enterprises, have been driving strong project sales by building value-for-money products or high-quality “good homes,” thereby boosting their sales performance.

Data from the China Index Academy show that in the first quarter, there were 16 property developers with sales revenue of 100 billion yuan, down 1 from the same period last year; and 28 property developers with sales revenue of 50 billion yuan, down 10 from the same period last year. The China Index Academy believes that changes in the number of “100-billion-yuan enterprises” reflect the real estate market shifting from scale expansion to high-quality development. This prompts companies to focus more on steady operations, product strength, and service quality, pushing the industry toward a more refined and sustainable direction—beneficial for overall risk control and long-term healthy development.

Some private property developers have performed especially well. Data from the Purui Zhishuo Research Center show that among the 100 typical property developers, there were 7 enterprises whose cumulative sales performance in the first quarter recorded a year-on-year growth rate exceeding 100%; private enterprises such as Junyi Holding, Maoyuan Holding, Lian Tai Property, and Hongfa Group are all listed among the top five in the growth-rate ranking. Among them, Junyi Holding had the highest growth rate, reaching 329.4%.

Recently, executives at multiple real estate firms such as Longfor Group and Greentown China provided relatively optimistic forecasts about the outlook for the 2026 real estate market. Chen Xuping, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Longfor Group, said that the adjustment in the real estate industry has already been quite significant, and with ongoing policy-level release of favorable measures to stabilize the housing market, the overall decline in the market this year is expected to narrow substantially and achieve a bottoming out followed by stabilization. A rebound in secondhand home transactions will also transmit to the new-housing market, manifesting as stronger demand for swapping/replacement; the company will prepare its products.

“We expect that on the policy side of the 2026 real estate market, high-quality advancement of urban renewal and the construction of ‘good homes’ will become the two main key areas for efforts. This direction aligns with changes in the industry’s transformation and the market’s demand, and will become the core source driving new-quality incremental growth in the sector.” said Li Jun, Executive Director and Vice President of Greentown China. The company will comprehensively consider industry-cycle fluctuations and its own internal operating realities, stabilize its investment scale, maintain steady operations, and ensure that its sales scale matches operational safety, achieving balanced development in the new stage of industry development.

Improved activity in secondhand home markets in key cities

Compared with the new-housing market, the secondhand home market’s heat is rising faster. According to statistics from the Purui Zhishuo Research Center, in March the transaction area for secondhand homes in the nation’s top 20 key cities was approximately 17.97 million square meters, up 117% month-over-month and up 6% year-on-year. In the first quarter, the cumulative transaction area for secondhand homes in the nation’s top 20 key cities was approximately 41.08 million square meters, up 4% year-on-year.

Judging by the absolute transaction area of secondhand homes in key cities: the transaction area for Chengdu’s secondhand homes reached 2.61 million square meters, up 140% month-over-month and up 26% year-on-year; Shanghai’s secondhand home transaction area was about 2.28 million square meters, up 164% month-over-month and up slightly 1% year-on-year. Secondhand home transaction area in first- and second-tier cities such as Beijing, Wuhan, Tianjin, Hefei, and Xi’an increased substantially month-over-month and exceeded 1 million square meters. Second- and third-tier cities such as Ningbo, Foshan, and Yangzhou also saw significant growth in the first quarter, and activity in the secondhand home market improved markedly.

Taking Shanghai as an example, data from the China Index Academy show that in March 2026, there were 31,215 secondhand home transactions in Shanghai, the highest level in nearly 5 years, up 6.39% from March of last year. It is worth noting that since August 2025, Shanghai’s secondhand home market has entered a destocking channel; by February 2026, the volume of secondhand home listings has already decreased by 25.7% compared with the earlier peak period. The relationship between supply and demand has continued to improve. From the transaction structure, the share of homes priced below RMB 3 million with total prices outside the outer ring increased; the willingness of demand from first-time/rigid buyers to enter the market strengthened; bargaining and pricing negotiation room tightened, laying a foundation for stabilizing prices in the next stage.

Li Gen, head of the Shanghai Lianjia Research Institute, said that the March transaction data of 31,000+ secondhand homes in Shanghai confirms the market’s strong return of confidence. On the price side, there are also positive signals of stabilization and rebound. According to Shanghai Lianjia data, in March Shanghai’s secondhand home price index rose 1% month-over-month. Meanwhile, as a leading indicator, the number of viewings (带看量) grew by 28% compared with January, providing strong support for subsequent transactions.

“Based on the performance of the country’s hot cities, the housing market shows clear characteristics: first-tier cities lead the way, and recovery occurs in a structural rather than uniform manner.” Zhang Bo, Dean of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, analyzed, saying: In recent days, secondhand home transactions in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have both seen a clear volume expansion, and the demand-release effect under policy stimuli has been significant. Strong second-tier core cities are recovering at the same time, but third- and fourth-tier cities remain relatively subdued. Overall, the market has now formed a dominant pattern where secondhand homes in core cities lead. In the next step, the new-housing market is expected to leverage the linkage between secondhand home replacement to be unlocked, bringing improvements. The national real estate market is expected to continue the trend of structural repair from April to May, and the persistence of policy effects still needs to be followed with attention to the rhythm of demand release. During the “May Day” holiday window, localities are expected to optimize policies, and the overall pace of continued recovery will not change.

(Editor: Wen Jing)

Keywords:

                                                            Housing market