China home prices continue to decline in March

Home prices in China continued to decline in March, as weakening real estate investment and sluggish housing sales kept pressure on the property market.

According to the housing price index released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, prices for new and existing homes fell in most of the country’s 70 large and medium-sized cities in March 2026.

Prices for new homes dropped 2.2% year-on-year in the four so-called first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Prices fell 3.3% in 31 second-tier cities and 4% in 35 third-tier cities.

Shanghai stood out as the exception among first-tier cities, with new home prices rising 3.7% year-on-year.

Prices for existing homes, meanwhile, declined 7.4% year-on-year in first-tier cities, 6.2% in second-tier cities and 6.4% in third-tier cities.

New home prices have been falling since April 2022

New home prices in China have been on a downward trend since April 2022. A post-pandemic contraction following the COVID-19 pandemic, along with debt problems in the real estate sector, has continued to weigh on prices.

Real estate investment in the country fell 9.6% in 2023, 10.6% in 2024 and 17.2% in 2025. It fell a further 11.2% in the first three months of 2026.

The central government has introduced a range of measures to support the housing market, including cuts to mortgage rates and minimum down-payment requirements. Local governments have also rolled out measures such as tax cuts, looser regulations and subsidies to encourage home purchases. So far, however, these measures have failed to reverse the broader downturn.