China's 13-month property slump ends

Sales of new and second-hand commercial housing in China ended 13 months of falls in January and February, said Ni Hong, the minister for housing and urban-rural development, adding that he expected the market to stabilize and rebound.

"A positive impact has occurred on both the supply and demand side of real estate," Ni noted.

Work on many housing projects has resumed since the end of the Covid restrictions at a much higher rate than before and the transaction volume had improved significantly with the number of viewings of new homes increasing, Ni said.

Since last year, the property sector has grappled with a liquidity crisis, with many developers defaulting on, or delaying, debt payments and even stalling construction of presold properties, which triggered threats from buyers to stop mortgage payments.

Some signs of recovery have been seen in recent weeks, as home prices rose in January for the first time in a year.