Country Garden sales drop 72% as China’s housing woes persist

Contracted sales for July dropped 72% from a year earlier to 3.41 billion yuan ($478 million), following a 73% slide in June, corporate filings show. The tally was 21% lower from the previous month.

Also Read: Can Indian real estate market face a crisis like China’s Evergrande?

The distressed real estate giant is counting on a turnaround in sales to increase its survival chances, as it fights a wind-up petition in a Hong Kong court following its 2023 default. Last week, it was given more time to work on an offshore debt restructuring plan when the case was adjourned to January.

Also Read: China unveils ‘historic’ steps to stabilise crisis-hit real estate sector

“Buyer concerns around Country Garden’s liquidity means they are likely to avoid its projects until fully completed,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kristy Hung wrote in a note on Aug. 1.

Country Garden’s month-on-month decline in home sales is smaller than the 36% slide at the 100 biggest real estate companies tracked by China Real Estate Information Corp.

A recent rescue package has failed to revive China’s housing market, which remains a major drag on economic growth. New-home prices dropped at close to the fastest pace in almost a decade in June, giving people less reason to invest in property.

Also Read: China mulls government purchases of unsold homes to ease glut

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.