National Bureau of Statistics: In January-February, national real estate development investment reached 961.2 billion yuan, down 11.1% year-on-year.

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

1. Real Estate Development Investment Completion

In January and February, the total investment in real estate development nationwide was 9.612 trillion yuan, a decrease of 11.1% year-on-year (calculated on a comparable basis; see Note 5). The decline narrowed by 6.1 percentage points compared to the previous year. Residential investment accounted for 7.282 trillion yuan, down 10.7%, with the decline narrowing by 5.6 percentage points.

In January and February, the construction area of houses by real estate development enterprises was 5,353.72 million square meters, down 11.7% year-on-year. Of this, residential construction area was 3,713.47 million square meters, down 11.9%. Newly started construction area was 50.84 million square meters, down 23.1%. Among these, residential new starts totaled 36.95 million square meters, down 23.3%. Completed construction area was 63.2 million square meters, down 27.9%. Of which, residential completed area was 46.25 million square meters, down 26.9%.

2. Sales and Inventory of Newly Built Commercial Housing

In January and February, the sales area of newly built 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 newly built commercial housing was 8.186 trillion yuan, down 20.2%, with the decline expanding by 7.6 percentage points; residential sales amount decreased by 21.8%.

By 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. Of this, the area for sale within 3 years was 60.616 million square meters, a decrease of 1.6%.

3. Funds Arrived at Real Estate Development Enterprises

In January and February, the funds received by real estate development enterprises totaled 13.047 trillion yuan, a decrease of 16.5% year-on-year. Among these, domestic loans amounted to 257 billion yuan, down 13.9%; self-raised funds were 493.9 billion yuan, down 5.9%; deposits and prepayments totaled 358.9 billion yuan, down 21.5%; and personal mortgage loans were 112.8 billion yuan, down 41.9%.