Business
China’s housing market free-falls as buyers wait for floor prices
Support us Home prices in China have returned to the levels 10 to 20 years ago. Photo: Baidu China’s home prices continued to fall in the first half of 2026 as buyers held back, betting that values would drop farther. With sales volumes and prices both in decline, analysts see little sign of a near-term recovery. Data released on Wednesday by the China Index Academy showed that secondary-market home prices across 100 major Chinese cities fell 0.42% month-on-month in June, to an average of 12,639 yuan (US$1,750) per square meter. Of those cities, 88 recorded declines while only 12 saw gains. The secondary market slide was broad-based across city tiers. In June, first-tier city secondary home prices fell 6.95% year-on-year. Second-tier cities fared worse, dropping 8.21% on the year, while smaller third- and fourth-tier cities fell 7.48% year-on-year. Among the 10 largest cities, Nanjing and Wuhan posted the steepest year-on-year declines in June, with secondary market prices dropping 11.45% and 10.89%, respectively. Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Chongqing all saw falls of between 8% and 10%. Hangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen recorded year-on-year declines of between 5% and 8% in June.
