Shuli Ren, Columnist

China’s Distressed Developers Are Also Very Lucky

Signs the real estate market is recovering couldn’t have come at a better time for embattled builders.

April 13, 2023 at 12:30 AM UTC

Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barron’s. She is a CFA charterholder.

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Timing is everything. Just when China’s distressed developers are delivering their worst annual earnings on record, the country’s housing market is turning the corner.

Beijing’s abrupt exit from Covid Zero in late 2022 is reviving the real estate industry, which accounted for as much as one-quarter of gross domestic product. Despite last year’s regulatory crackdown, homeowner protests against stalled construction projects, and threats of mortgage boycotts, buyers are coming back to the housing market. In March, property sales volume in 30 major cities rose 44% from a year earlier, after averaging a 13% decline in January and February. This pace is mirroring that of 2019, according to Gavekal Dragonomics, a research outlet.