China Declares Real Estate 'Stock Era' as Existing-Home Sales Pass 50%

China's property sector has formally crossed into a "stock era" where secondary home transactions now exceed new home sales, officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced at a State Council Information Office briefing. Secondary residential sales reached 52% of total transactions in the first eight months of the year, up from 27% in 2020. Ahead of the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan, ministry officials outlined a systemic transition away from debt-fueled expansion toward existing-home revitalization, completed-home sales, mandatory elevators in mid-rise residential builds, and expanded Housing Provident Fund rules covering renovation costs and property fees.

The housing ministry's explicit designation of a "stock era" marks an official recalibration away from China's multi-decade reliance on high-turnover new development and municipal land auctions. By reforming basic operating mechanisms—such as transitioning to completed-home sales and extending housing provident funds to flexible workers, renovation expenses, and property management fees—policymakers are attempting to stabilize household balance sheets and redirect urban capital toward housing upkeep and consumption rather than speculative construction.

China's property sector has formally entered a "stock era" marked by existing-home transactions outstripping primary sales, according to senior officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development speaking at a State Council Information Office press briefing on the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Zhang Xuetao, director of the ministry's Real Estate Market Supervision Department, stated that transactions in the secondary residential market reached 52% of total sales volume during the first eight months of the year, based on National Bureau of Statistics figures cited at the briefing. That figure rose from 27% in 2020 and 46% in 2025. Zhang noted that crossing the 50% threshold officially signifies the housing market's structural transition from incremental expansion to an existing-inventory phase. To manage this transition, the ministry presented a strategic framework summarized as "1-2-3-4" to establish a new property development model. The core operational shift relies on three foundational institutional changes: independent project-company structures to clarify operational liability, a lead-bank mechanism to secure transparent project financing, and the active adoption of finished-home sales over presales. Zhang emphasized that finished-home sales are "the prevailing trend," resolving cash-versus-delivery risks by delivering tangible units immediately upon payment. Beyond sales models, the ministry outlined reforms to the national Housing Provident Fund to support existing housing demand. According to Zhang, fund eligibility will expand to include individual businesses, part-time employees, and other flexibly employed workers. Permissible withdrawal scenarios will widen from six to nine categories, explicitly allowing depositors to draw on their balances to pay for interior renovations and ongoing property management fees. Digital reforms will also allow nationwide mutual recognition of contribution histories and faster cross-regional loan processing. Broader urban planning targets are shifting in tandem. Vice Minister Chen Shaowang noted that Chinese cities have transitioned into a stage defined as "30% building and 70% governance," requiring digital operations through City Information Modeling and smart management platforms. The ministry also raised baseline residential construction standards, lifting mandatory residential floor height to at least 3.0 meters, requiring elevator installation in residential buildings four stories and higher, and increasing exterior and balcony railing heights to at least 1.2 meters to improve residential safety.