China’s property sector contracted for a third straight quarter, a sign that real estate was still dragging on the economy, even before the recent Covid outbreaks and lockdowns began to escalate.
Output in the real-estate industry, a key economic contributor, contracted 2% in the first quarter from a year ago, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said in a report Tuesday. It was the steepest drop among all sectors, according to the bureau’s detailed breakdown of economic activity from January to March.
