China's housing market just clocked its worst monthly price drop since October. New-home prices in 70 cities slipped 0.22% in May, while used-home prices dropped 0.5%—the sharpest fall in eight months. These aren't isolated data points. They're part of a broader signal: the post-stimulus momentum that kicked off in late 2023 is losing steam. Despite Beijing's earlier attempts to revive confidence, price declines are still weighing on household wealth and investor sentiment. For companies exposed to the Chinese consumer or dependent on industrial demand—like Tesla (TSLA, Financial)—this backdrop could shape their next leg of growth, or contraction.
Zoom out, and the bigger picture looks even more fragile. Residential sales by value fell 6.1% in May from a weak base a year earlier. Real estate investment plunged 12% year-on-year—the steepest drop since December, based on Bloomberg's analysis of official data. UBS analysts expect the property downturn to carry through 2025, though they note the pace of decline could ease. What's keeping buyers sidelined? Expectations. A recent UBS survey of 2,500 respondents showed many still anticipate further price drops, which means the recovery might stay stuck in neutral for longer than policymakers hoped.
Beijing isn't ignoring the warning signs. Premier Li Qiang said Friday that the government will step in to make the market “stop declining.” State media followed up Monday with reports of increased coordination between fiscal and financial tools. That's the clearest signal yet that another round of support could be on the table. But timing and execution matter. Until investors see how deep the next policy wave runs—and whether it actually gets traction in the real economy—China's property sector will remain a macro headwind for global markets.
