National Bureau of Statistics: In the first two months, the sales of new commercial housing reached 8.186 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 20.2%

On March 16, the National Bureau of Statistics released the basic situation of the national real estate market for January–February 2026.

1. Real estate development investment completion

In January–February, the total investment in real estate development nationwide was 9,612 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.1% (calculated on a comparable basis; see Note 5). The decline narrowed by 6.1 percentage points compared to the previous year. Of this, residential investment was 7,282 billion yuan, down 10.7%, with the decline narrowing by 5.6 percentage points.

In January–February, real estate development companies’ housing construction area was 5,353.72 million square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 11.7%. Among these, residential construction area was 3,713.47 million square meters, down 11.9%. Newly started housing construction area was 50.84 million square meters, down 23.1%. Of which, residential new starts were 36.95 million square meters, down 23.3%. Completed housing area was 63.2 million square meters, down 27.9%. Among these, residential completed area was 46.25 million square meters, down 26.9%.

2. Sales and inventory of new commercial housing

In January–February, the sales area of new commercial housing was 9,293 million square meters, a decrease of 13.5% year-on-year, with the decline expanding by 4.8 percentage points compared to the previous year; among these, residential sales area decreased by 15.9%. The sales amount of new commercial housing was 8,186 billion yuan, down 20.2%, with the decline expanding by 7.6 percentage points; among these, residential sales amount decreased by 21.8%.

At the end of February, the area of commercial housing for sale was 79,998 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%, with the growth rate slowing by 1.5 percentage points compared to the end of 2025. Among these, the area for sale for less than 3 years was 60,616 million square meters, a decrease of 1.6%.

3. Funds received by real estate development enterprises

In January–February, funds received by real estate development enterprises totaled 13,047 billion yuan, a decrease of 16.5% year-on-year. Among these, domestic loans were 2,570 billion yuan, down 13.9%; self-raised funds were 4,939 billion yuan, down 5.9%; deposits and prepayments were 3,589 billion yuan, down 21.5%; and personal mortgage loans were 1,128 billion yuan, down 41.9%.