National real estate development investment declined 11.1% year-over-year in January-February

January–February 2026 National Real Estate Market Overview

I. Real Estate Development Investment Completion

In January–February, nationwide real estate development investment reached 9.612 trillion yuan, down 11.1% year-on-year (calculated on a comparable basis; see Note 5). The decline narrowed by 6.1 percentage points compared to the previous year. Residential investment accounted for 7.282 trillion yuan, down 10.7%, with the decline narrowing by 5.6 percentage points.

In January–February, real estate development companies’ construction area was 5,353.72 million square meters, down 11.7% year-on-year. Residential construction area was 3,713.47 million square meters, down 11.9%. Newly started construction area was 50.84 million square meters, down 23.1%. Residential new starts totaled 36.95 million square meters, down 23.3%. Completed construction area was 63.2 million square meters, down 27.9%. Residential completed area was 46.25 million square meters, down 26.9%.

II. Sales and Inventory of Newly Built Commercial Housing

In January–February, sales area of newly built commercial housing was 9.293 million square meters, down 13.5% year-on-year, with the decline widening by 4.8 percentage points compared to the previous year. Residential sales area decreased by 15.9%. Sales revenue of newly built commercial housing was 8.186 trillion yuan, down 20.2%, with the decline expanding by 7.6 percentage points; residential sales revenue fell by 21.8%.

As of the end of February, the inventory of commercial housing was 79.998 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%, with the growth rate slowing by 1.5 percentage points compared to the end of 2025. Among these, the area of inventory held for less than 3 years was 60.616 million square meters, down 1.6%.

III. Funds Arrived at Real Estate Development Enterprises

In January–February, funds received by real estate development enterprises totaled 1.3047 trillion yuan, down 16.5% year-on-year. Of these, domestic loans amounted to 257 billion yuan, down 13.9%; self-raised funds were 493.9 billion yuan, down 5.9%; deposits and prepayments totaled 358.9 billion yuan, down 21.5%; and personal mortgage loans were 112.8 billion yuan, down 41.9%.

(Edited by: Wen Jing)

Keywords: Real estate development investment