China property investments fell 4% from a year earlier in January-May, official data showed on Wednesday, as the sector continued to deteriorate.
The China property investments figure followed a 2.7% year-on-year decline in the first four months.
Real estate sales by floor area fell 23.6% year-on-year in the first five months, extending the 20.9% decline in January-April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
New construction starts measured by floor area plunged 30.6% in January-May from a year earlier, after a 26.3% fall in January-April.
Funds raised by China real estate developers slumped 25.8% year-on-year in the first five months, compared with a 23.6% fall in the first four months.
Adrian Cheng, co-head of China property at Fitch Ratings, said the agency maintains a “deteriorating” sector outlook for China property developers.
“The operating environment for Chinese developers will remain challenging in the second half of 2022,” he said.
The sector faces a $22 billion in offshore bonds maturities in the second half of this year.
“This still presents significant liquidity pressure for developers. Other funding channels, such as bank financings and pre-sales proceeds, have not seen significant improvements,” Cheng said.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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