BEIJING A Chinese think tank owned by KE Holdings apologised on Thursday for its assessment regarding rising housing vacancy rates in China, and said it was not sufficiently accurate.
A report was published by the Beike Research Institute on Aug. 5 after it conducted a survey about oversupply in China's property market due to high rates of unoccupied homes in major Chinese cities.
The survey takes into account whether a home has been unoccupied for three consecutive months as an indicator that does not fully reflect the real situation, said Beike in a statement published on its WeChat account.
We will cross-check the accuracy of the data with the electricity, water and housing departments. Reports of high vacancy rates could worsen sentiment in China's distressed property market, where some cash-strapped developers have defaulted on loans and bond repayments and homebuyers in several cities are refusing to pay their mortgages due to work stoppages on unfinished homes.
The government has taken measures to help to stabilise the sector, which accounts for about a quarter of the economy.
The Beike report said that the average housing vacancy rate in 28 major cities is higher than the average rate in the United States, Canada, France, Australia and Britain, with a 7 per cent vacancy rate in tier-one cities including Beijing and 12 per cent in tier-two cities.
Beike was not available to provide further comment when contacted by Reuters. The report is no longer available on its official WeChat account.