China's property investment falls 20.6% y/y in first 9 months

Business Recorder reported that China's property investment contracted 20.6 per cent over the first nine months of the year, a deeper fall than the 19.9 per cent slide seen through August. The latest official figures, released on Monday, show the decline widening compared with the earlier period. The comparison is with the same nine months a year earlier.

Property sales measured by floor area dropped 13.2 per cent, against a 12.1 per cent drop through the first eight months. New construction starts, also measured by floor area, plunged 24.9 per cent, little changed from the 24.8 per cent tumble recorded in January to August.

Funds raised by developers fell 21.6 per cent, after a 21.0 per cent decline in the opening eight months of the year. Across the four measures, the slump deepened only slightly between the two reporting periods, with sales showing the sharpest acceleration.