During the Spring Festival, the policy environment for the real estate market was the most lenient it had been in recent years. Local governments actively introduced preferential policies targeting homebuyers returning to their hometowns, stimulating the demand for home purchases among this group. Many real estate companies seized the marketing opportunity and launched various promotional activities before the holiday, with many real estate projects remaining open. The real estate market in many regions saw stable sales, defying the traditional off-season slump.
Looking ahead, experts believe that with the goal of “stabilizing the real estate market and halting its decline” becoming clearer in the first quarter, the policies that have been introduced are expected to be implemented more quickly, thereby boosting market expectations. It is estimated that the overall transaction volume will remain stable year-on-year. For the second-hand housing market, influenced by the gradual price adjustments in some residential areas and improved expectations among homeowners in core cities, transaction volumes are expected to maintain a certain level, and price declines are expected to continue to narrow. A “spring upturn” is anticipated in core cities.
Real Estate Market Remains Busy During Spring Festival Off-Season
According to data from the China Index Academy, the average daily transaction area of new homes in 28 representative cities during the Spring Festival holiday (from January 28 to February 4) increased by 8% compared to the previous year’s holiday (from February 10 to February 17, 2024). Among the first-tier cities, new home sales in Guangzhou increased by 47% compared to the previous Spring Festival, while Beijing saw a slight increase of 5%.
Among second-tier cities, Chengdu’s market was particularly active, and due to a low base, online signing transactions increased significantly compared to the previous year’s holiday. Nanjing, Nanchang, Wuhan, and other cities also saw significant increases.
“Overall, the market was relatively stable during the Spring Festival this year, but the holiday market is still in the off-season. It is expected that transactions of new and second-hand homes in key cities will see a significant rebound after the holiday,” said Li Yifeng, Deputy Director of Research at the China Index Academy.
In the second-hand housing market, “trading volume for price reductions” continued to drive active transactions. Data from the China Index Academy shows that as of the pre-Spring Festival period in January 2025 (from January 1 to January 27), the number of second-hand residential transactions in 20 key cities increased by 19% year-on-year. Affected by the Spring Festival holiday, the number of online signing transactions at the end of the month declined significantly. Preliminary statistics show that the total number of second-hand residential transactions in the 20 key cities increased by about 3% year-on-year for the whole month of January.
According to the “2025 Spring Festival Holiday Real Estate Market Report” by 58 Anjuke Research Institute, in the week before the Spring Festival in 2025, the new home market activity continued to decline, as in previous years, due to the pre-holiday Spring Festival travel rush. However, after the Lunar New Year’s Eve, from the first to the seventh day of the new year (from January 29 to February 4), the online home search activity data for the seven days after the holiday increased by 57.0% compared to the seven days before the holiday.
“Market sentiment is improving, and the real estate market in many parts of the country is showing signs of remaining busy during the off-season. Especially with the continuous effort of policies and active measures taken by real estate companies, the real estate market is accelerating its recovery,” said Zhang Bo, Dean of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute.
Real Estate Policies Continue to be Lenient
Recently, Zheng Shanjie, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, published a signed article in the “Study and Research” magazine, stating that in 2024, multiple real estate support policies were introduced and implemented, market confidence was partially restored, and the real estate market showed a positive trend of stabilizing and halting its decline. In 2025, efforts will continue to be made to promote the stabilization of the real estate market.
“Overall, the policy objectives for the real estate market in 2025 are clear. It is expected that various real estate market policies will continue to be implemented and strengthened to further boost market confidence,” said Chen Wenjing, Director of Policy Research at the China Index Academy.
