Real estate companies' sales performance shows resilience; the "little spring" in the housing market is expected to be promising

By 2026, several key housing markets are showing signs of recovery, with many real estate companies seizing the opportunities of the Spring Festival and policy adjustments to achieve year-over-year sales growth.

According to the latest data from China Index Academy, in the first two months of 2026, Poly Developments, China Overseas Land & Investment, and China Resources Land each surpassed 20 billion yuan in sales. Additionally, five other real estate companies had sales between 10 billion and 20 billion yuan. The data also shows that among the top 100 companies by sales in the first two months of 2026, 52 are central and local state-owned enterprises, and 43 are private firms, with private companies increasing compared to last year. Notably, private firms like Binjiang Group, Longfor Group, Dahua Group, and Xingyao Real Estate are operating relatively steadily, maintaining sales performance while keeping a certain level of investment. Meanwhile, some distressed private companies face operational difficulties with significantly reduced sales, but due to their accumulated land resources, they still rank among the top 100 in sales.

Liu Shui, Director of Enterprise Research at China Index Academy, believes that many real estate companies have seen significant growth in sales performance thanks to their quality housing products. Many firms are capitalizing on the policy opportunities during the Spring Festival by creating high-quality housing, accelerating marketing efforts, and employing various strategies to achieve countercyclical sales growth.

CRIC (China Real Estate Information Corporation) states that February, being the Spring Festival month, traditionally enters a “low season” for new homes, second-hand properties, and land markets. The peak travel and return-home period during the festival causes a decline in effective customer traffic, leading developers to avoid launching new projects during the holiday and instead concentrate on sales from March to April, the “small spring” season, with lower supply levels.

Recently, both policy updates and land market news have emerged. Notably, Shanghai’s new “Seven Policies” (Hu Qi Tiao) have been implemented, easing purchase restrictions, increasing down payment limits for provident fund loans, and optimizing property taxes—precisely releasing multiple policy benefits. Industry insiders believe that these policies further lower the threshold for home purchases, potentially stimulating a wave of housing demand, injecting vitality into the market, and serving as a benchmark for other cities with room for policy loosening, encouraging them to follow suit.

Additionally, the hot land auction market in Guangzhou has boosted market confidence and activity. During the nine-hour, 243-round bidding process for the Ma Chang land parcel in Zhujiang New Town, Yuexiu Property ultimately won with a total bid of 23.6 billion yuan, a premium of 26.6%, making it the second-highest land transaction in Guangzhou history after the 25.5 billion yuan deal for the Asian Games City site in 2009.

CRIC believes that if pent-up demand from the holiday is released and combined with efforts by various cities to relax restrictive policies, promote urban renewal, and facilitate second-hand property transactions, the “small spring” market in March could be promising, with a significant rebound in transaction volumes expected.

Liu Shui forecasts that in the future, core cities may experience a “small spring” market, but the pattern of market segmentation among cities will continue. China Index Academy suggests that in the short term, as returning residents after the Spring Festival resume normal home-buying activities and online signing returns to normal, accumulated demand is expected to gradually release. With the upcoming National Two Sessions, further policy optimization for real estate is anticipated, and core cities may see a “small spring” market, though regional disparities will persist.