BEIJING: China's property investment bounced back slightly over the first two months of 2022, after a fall in December, official data showed on Tuesday that property curbs were put in place to relieve a liquidity crisis faced by developers and spur buying interest.
Property investment increased by 3.7 per cent from a year earlier to 1.4499 trillion yuan UUS $227.19 billion in the first two months of 2022, after a 13.9 per cent slump in December and larger than the 1.3986 trillion yuan for the same period in 2021.
China's property market was calm last year as Beijing's deleveraging campaign resulted in a crisis in some major property developers, leading to bond defaults, a plunge in share prices and projects that were shelved or left unfinished.
The authorities put in place a series of measures to increase sales and ease the liquidity crunch of developers, as policymakers worried about a broader financial crisis. Several measures, such as allowing smaller down payments and lowering mortgage rates, have been implemented.
The current figures indicate a weak willingness to invest in property development, said Yan Yuejin, research director of the Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institution.
Yan expected authorities to roll out measures to encourage real estate firms to actively purchase land in March and the coming months.
In the January-February period, the funds raised by China's property developers fell 17.7 per cent year-on-year, compared with the 19.29 per cent fall in December.
The NBS group the first two months of the year together to compensate for the distortions caused by the Lunar New Year holidays.
Premier Li Keqiang said at the annual parliament meeting earlier in March that cities can implement their own property policies based on local conditions.
The funding conditions for the property sector should see improvement in the months ahead, HSBC analysts said in a note before the release of Tuesday's data.