1. Home
  2. >
  3. Economy 🏛️
Posted

China's Housing Crisis Deepens as Thousands of Projects Halted, Defaults Rise

  • China's housing crisis has been going on for 3 years with no end in sight
  • Thousands of building projects halted due to government "three red lines" policy
  • Property developer defaults and restructuring due to policy
  • Evaporated confidence in market sent sales tumbling
  • Podcast discusses what went wrong, importance of real estate, and what it would take to end the crisis
economist.com
Relevant topic timeline:
China's real estate crisis, caused by a crackdown on risky behavior by home builders and a subsequent housing slowdown, is spreading to the broader economy, leading to sinking sales, disappearing jobs, and a decline in consumer confidence, business investment, and stock markets.
China is facing a severe economic downturn, with record youth unemployment, a slumping housing market, stagnant spending, and deflation, which has led to a sense of despair and reluctance to spend among consumers and business owners, potentially fueling a dangerous cycle.
China's real estate market is experiencing a significant downturn, causing major developers to face massive losses and mounting debts, which is impacting the country's economy and global growth.
China's economic slump is worsening due to the prolonged property crisis, with missed payments on investment products by a major trust company and a fall in home prices adding to concerns.
China should continue to prioritize the principle of "houses are for living in, not for speculation" to prevent potential negative impacts on economic and social development, according to an editorial in the state-run Economic Daily, as the country faces a downturn in the property sector and potentially unwinding some curbs.
China's unexpected economic slowdown, driven by excessive investment in the property sector and local government spending, is leading experts to question whether a collapse is imminent, although they believe a sudden collapse is unlikely due to China's controlled financial system; however, the slowdown will have implications for global growth and emerging markets, particularly if the U.S. enters a recession next year.
China's current property crisis is not as severe as the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER).
China's hybrid economic model, which combines state planning with market forces, is facing challenges as the country struggles with weak economic indicators, including high youth unemployment and falling prices, and the property market experiences financial distress due to government interventions and market dynamics; policymakers must implement short-term measures to boost market confidence, such as managing property-sector defaults and easing housing investment restrictions, while also undertaking long-term structural reforms to address moral hazards, promote fiscal responsibility, and protect private businesses and foreign investors.
China's property crisis has left small businesses and workers owed hundreds of billions of dollars, with suppliers waiting on at least $390 billion in payments, as new projects dry up and financial troubles plague real estate developers like Country Garden.
China's economic problems are beginning to resemble Japan's long-lasting issues, as a real estate crisis, an aging population, surging youth unemployment, and high local government debts create a crisis of confidence, potentially leading to a "lost decade" of economic stagnation and deflation, while Japan shows signs of climbing out of its decades-long economic nightmare with rising inflation and a potentially optimistic outlook.
China's economic slowdown is being caused by a property market downturn, softening demand for exports, and low household spending, which poses risks to financial stability and could lead to deflation and deeper debt problems. Economists are uncertain if the government's current measures, like interest rate cuts, will be enough to boost consumption and meet growth targets. Structural reforms and measures to increase household consumption are needed to address the imbalance in the economy.
The slowdown in China's property market continues despite government measures to revive the economy, with analysts warning that the sentiment among many Chinese is too weak for these moves to be effective.
China's economy is facing numerous challenges, including high youth unemployment, real estate sector losses, sluggish growth in banks, shrinking manufacturing activity, and lack of investor confidence, indicating deeper systemic issues rather than cyclical ones.
China's housing crisis has led to a record number of defaults among the country's private developers, with 34 out of the top 50 developers experiencing delinquencies on offshore debt, and the remaining 16 facing a combined $1.48 billion of bond payments in September, raising concerns about a potential bond default by industry giant Country Garden and the potential ripple effects on the broader economy and social stability.
China's real estate and construction sectors are struggling, leading to fears of economic stagnation as consumer spending declines and other areas of the economy are not growing fast enough to make up the difference.
The crisis in Germany's residential construction sector is worsening, with a record number of companies reporting cancelled projects due to high costs and a lack of orders.
China's government is downplaying its economic crisis by promoting positive narratives, while social media campaigns and state-run newspapers attack Western media outlets for biased reporting; however, reports suggest that the property sector downturn is causing significant ramifications, and growth projections for China have been downgraded by major banks.
China's property sector continues to struggle with deepening falls in new home prices, property investment, and sales in August, despite recent support measures, adding pressure to the country's economy.
The outlook of U.S. companies on China's markets in the next five years has hit a record low due to factors such as political tensions, tariffs, slow Covid recovery, and issues in the real estate market; however, complete decoupling between the two economies is unlikely.
China's largest developer, Country Garden Holdings, is facing a major crisis as it struggles with a mountain of debt repayments, a slowing property market, and negative sentiment towards the sector following defaults by other Chinese peers; the company's focus on smaller cities has become a disadvantage as the housing market faces a potential decline.
China's property market is facing a crisis with an overwhelming amount of unsold homes, surpassing the number of people in the country, as the sector continues to slump since the default of China Evergrande group.
China's property market is in crisis with a surplus of empty apartments, estimated to be enough to accommodate 3 billion people, according to a former official, signaling ongoing challenges for the sector despite official claims of a "resilient" economy.
China's property sector has slumped since 2021, with big-name developers teetering close to default and an abundance of vacant homes that even China's population of 1.4 billion can't fill, according to a former official.
China is facing a housing crisis with rows of empty homes, leaving the country with an estimated 65-80 million vacant units, indicating a long-term decline in housing demand and raising concerns about the nation's economic growth.
China's urbanization drive is slowing down, which is expected to further impact the struggling property sector that has been plagued by debt problems and declining consumer confidence. Managing the excess housing supply and diversifying the economy away from reliance on the property sector are crucial for a healthier Chinese economy.
President Xi Jinping's efforts to tackle the housing crisis in China face obstacles as multiple property developers, including Evergrande and China Oceanwide, deal with debt restructuring, liquidation, and potential defaults, leading to investor confusion about the government's plan to stabilize the market.
China's flailing real estate sector may take up to 10 years to fix, according to economist Hong Hao, as the sector continues to suffer from a debt crisis and oversupply, while demand is in long-term decline. Beijing officials are grappling with the challenge of reducing reliance on real estate without harming the economy in the short term.
China's property crisis, characterized by an excess of empty homes, could take up to a decade to resolve, according to economist Hao Hong, with the country's urbanization process stagnating and the property sector's contribution to GDP declining.
China's economic outlook, particularly for the real estate sector, is expected to become clearer in the last three months of the year, with potential government support and loosening of restrictions to stabilize the housing market and allow the economy to recover fully by mid-2024. However, economists predict that real estate growth will remain weak and prices may fall gradually, as significant price declines could have adverse social consequences.
China's real estate crisis, highlighted by Evergrande's bankruptcy, is leaving homebuyers worried about the fate of their investments as other property giants face similar financial troubles and fears of house price depreciation rise.
China's economic growth appears to be slowing down, with issues such as an aging population and a collapsing housing sector leading to speculation that the country's economic miracle may be coming to an end, while its diplomatic strategies have also caused strain on international relationships.
China's property market blowup, which has led to major developers struggling and low housing sales, may not necessarily result in a financial crisis due to the unique characteristics of China's housing market and Beijing's control over the financial system, but it is expected to cause significant damage to bank balance sheets and potentially lead to widespread financial turbulence if support is not provided to local governments and small lenders.
China's property crisis poses significant challenges for an economy heavily reliant on real estate, although there are some sectors that may benefit from the situation.
The housing market is slowing down due to soaring mortgage rates, which could lead to an economic downturn as home construction is curbed and growth prospects falter, according to billionaire investor Bill Gross.
China's real estate crisis continues as Country Garden warns investors of a possible default on its $190 billion debt, highlighting the persistent weakness in the property market and posing a major threat to the country's growth prospects.
China's real estate sector, particularly Country Garden, is facing severe financial distress, indicating a significant downturn in the Chinese economy as a whole.