China's property investment falls 19.9% y/y in the first 8 months

Business Recorder reported that property investment in China fell 19.9 per cent in the first eight months, compared with a year earlier, based on official data released on Tuesday. The decline was deeper than the 19.2 per cent drop recorded over January to July, showing the contraction widened in the latest reading.

Other indicators also weakened. Sales of property, measured by floor area, dropped 12.1 per cent after an 11.8 per cent decline through July, while construction starts counted by floor area slid 24.8 per cent against a 24.0 per cent fall in January to July. Funds raised by developers fell 21.0 per cent, having dropped 20.3 per cent in the seven months to July.

A separate Business Recorder headline links the ongoing downturn to the Evergrande sentencing, which offers wider context to these numbers. The figures show pressure across sales, construction and developer funding at the same time.