First-time buyers are entering the market actively, currently still "absorbing existing inventory."

Securities Times reporter Li Yingquan

In the first quarter, the Guangzhou secondhand housing market has seen a warming trend.

On March 31, statistics released by the Guangzhou Real Estate Intermediaries Association showed that in March 2025 (the统计 period being Feb 26 to Mar 25), Guangzhou’s secondhand residential properties were signed online for a total of 10,866 units, covering 1.087 million square meters, representing month-on-month increases of 73.08% and 74.34%, respectively. In the first quarter, Guangzhou’s secondhand residential properties were signed online for a total of 27,182 units, covering 2.719 million square meters, representing year-on-year increases of 19.80% and 19.57%, respectively.

By subregion, in March, the number of signed online units for all administrative districts in Guangzhou increased to varying degrees on a month-on-month basis. Among them, Baiyun District, Zengcheng District, and Conghua District saw month-on-month growth rates of 93.82%, 86.59%, and 85.60%, respectively, ranking in the top tier. Even Nansha District, which had the smallest growth rate, still recorded a month-on-month increase of 41.24%.

On April 1, Securities Times reporters visited several real-estate agency storefronts in Tianhe District, Guangzhou in person. Because it was a weekday, there were not many customers coming to view homes or inquire; most were scattered sources of leads visiting occasionally. Several intermediary professionals told Securities Times reporters that on the previous weekend, their workload for home showings was relatively heavy, and the transaction volume also increased significantly compared with the prior two months.

A senior intermediary at the Yu Feng real estate platform in Guangzhou, an intermediary named Xu Feng, provided Securities Times reporters with a set of data. Taking the Changxing Road area in Tianhe District as an example, the secondhand housing transaction volume in March was almost the total of January and February combined.

“March is the first month after the February Spring Festival holiday, and the ‘early spring market’ effect is relatively noticeable. The activity level of move-to-home demand entering the market has increased,” the intermediary said.

The intermediary added that on the pricing side, overall transaction prices have stabilized, with no particularly obvious upswing or downswing. “Over the past two years, Guangzhou home prices have fallen by quite a lot, and the cumulative number of listings is still relatively high. Raising prices rashly could lead to buyers dropping out, and at present the market is still in the stage of digesting inventory of secondhand homes.”

Securities Times reporters, on the Ke Fang (Beike) secondhand housing platform, saw that as of now, the number of secondhand housing listings in Guangzhou on the platform is still just over 140,000 units. On pricing, according to data from Fang Tianxia Research Institute, in March the average listing price of Guangzhou’s secondhand homes was 30,162 yuan per square meter, down 0.60% month on month.

Ye Guoqiang, an agent at Hengjun Real Estate, said that currently, consumers considering buying homes continue to hold back, and some clients have a “picking bamboo shoots” mindset, causing the pace of entry into the market to slow down. As the direction of policy becomes clearer and, at the same time, the market environment gradually improves, buyers’ confidence is expected to be gradually restored.

Liu Teyì, an agent at Desheng Real Estate, said that in March, the group of customers with rigid buying needs such as preparing for marriage and enrolling in school accelerated their steps into the market. Meanwhile, some homeowners, because their listings had been on the market for a long time, saw their mindset change and were willing to offer a certain amount of price concessions to help their properties get sold as soon as possible.

Data for selected transactions in Guangzhou shown on the Ke Fang (Beike) secondhand housing platform indicates that for many listings, the transaction cycle this March ranged from 200 days to 300 days, or even longer.

Li Yujia, Chief Researcher at the Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center, told Securities Times reporters that after the secondhand housing market experienced a period of large-scale price cuts earlier, there is a demand for stabilization. “Many listings’ prices have reached levels around the years before 2017, bringing them within the affordability range for new residents and younger people. That is what led to the peak in secondhand housing transactions in March.”

Regarding the sustainability of this round of the “early spring market,” market research by the Guangzhou Real Estate Intermediaries Association believes that because the market is about to enter April’s traditional off-season, combined with the fact that the previously accumulated rigid and improved housing demand has already been partly released in a concentrated manner, prospective buyers currently generally believe they have substantial room for comparison when choosing listings. This extends the decision-making cycle and slows down the pace of entry, making the later momentum of transaction growth somewhat insufficient. It is expected that in April the secondhand residential housing market will see a certain pullback in trading and transactions.