Resale Outperforms New Builds in July
China's secondary (resale) housing market outperformed new-home sales in July 2026, defying broader market weakness and underscoring the growing preference among buyers for completed, immediately available properties over off-plan purchases. While new-home transactions in some major cities showed month-on-month softness, the resale segment — particularly in Beijing and Shanghai — maintained relative momentum, supported by improved mortgage availability and greater price transparency.
Beijing in Focus: Resale vs New-Home
Data from Beijing in late July illustrates the divergence:
- July 30 report: 396 new homes sold vs 768 second-hand units — a resale-to-new ratio of nearly 2:1
- July 27 report: 323 new homes vs 730 second-hand units — an even stronger resale preference
The consistent outperformance of resale in Beijing reflects structural shifts: buyers in China's tier-1 cities increasingly favour completed units given developer default risk, lower transaction costs in some cities that have lowered or removed resale taxes, and the ability to verify property condition and ownership history before purchase.
Unsold Inventory Falls for Fourth Consecutive Month
The broader inventory picture also improved: China's unsold housing inventory fell for the fourth consecutive month through June 2026, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD). The sustained inventory drawdown — achieved through a combination of white-list project completions, government buybacks for affordable housing and natural market absorption — has been a key policy success, reducing the overhang that weighed on developer balance sheets and buyer sentiment throughout 2024 and 2025.
Policy Tailwinds for the Secondary Market
Several policy measures have disproportionately benefited the resale segment:
- Lower transaction taxes in multiple cities for second-hand homes
- Easier mortgage approval for resale properties, which carry lower risk than off-plan units
- Government acquisition of second-hand homes for public rental housing schemes — notably Shanghai's acquisition of 551 units in 2026
What It Means for the Market
The secondary market's resilience is a double-edged signal: positive for price stabilisation and buyer confidence, but challenging for developers whose new-launch projects face fiercer competition from completed resale stock. As inventory continues to fall and the market normalisation process advances, analysts expect the premium on new-build quality to narrow — putting a floor under prices but also limiting the upside for developers reliant on price appreciation.
Source: MOHURD; Beijing Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission, July 2026