A residential complex built by Chinese real estate developer Vanke in Zhengzhou, China, on Aug. 30, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
China’s property market continues to face significant challenges with steep declines in sales, investment, and profitability, raising new doubts about the state media’s narrative of a gradual recovery.
According to data released on July 31 by the China Index Academy, total sales by the country’s top 100 real estate developers reached 2.07 trillion yuan (about $285 billion) in the first seven months of 2025—down by 13.3 percent year over year. The pace of decline has accelerated, widening by 1.5 percentage points compared with the numbers for the first half of the year. In July alone, sales dropped by 18.2 percent from a year earlier.
