In a report on Monday, S&P Global Ratings said primary home prices this year were set to drop 1 per cent nationwide, coupled with a 2 per cent fall in primary sales volume, which is a “modest decline compared with the 17 per cent drop in primary sales in 2024”.
“The government will make the property market more of a priority this year, in our view, to stabilise the economy in the face of US trade tariffs,” the ratings agency said.
The property sector, S&P said, remained a pillar of the Chinese economy as the ratio of primary property sales to gross domestic product was 7.2 per cent in 2024.
“This is meaningful even if [it was] less than half the pre-downturn level of 15.8 per cent in 2021,” the report said.
“This will be key to supporting consumer confidence, which Beijing has identified as its economic priority,” S&P said, adding that firms in upper-tier markets with good access to funding would benefit most from the market stabilisation.
