Housing sentiment in flux

Sentiment in the Chinese housing market turned negative again in August after a short stint of positivity in the beginning of this year. Of the 120 Chinese property and financial sector professionals UBS regularly polls 12% expect house sales to further deteriorate and 57% expect they will remain weak in the next 3-6 months. This is in stark contrast to February this year when 13% expected a significant rebound and 65% a gradual rebound in house sales. This could show how volatile overall sentiment is in the Chinese property sector, which represents about 30% of the economy. Meanwhile the Chinese government is trying to stimulate the property sector by loosening mortgage restrictions for instance.

Source: UBS, over 120 professionals polled, September 2023.