The number of new homes with online contracts signed in Beijing during the Labour Day holiday was up 114% YoY, with market heat continuing to diverge across different cities in April.

During this year's Labour Day holiday, the online signing volume of new homes in hot topic cities such as Beijing and Wuhan experienced varying degrees of growth.

According to monitoring data released today by the China Index Academy, during this year's Labour Day holiday, Beijing recorded a cumulative online signing of 302 units/34,200 m² of new commercial residential properties, up 114% and 107% YoY respectively; Wuhan recorded 451 units of new residential properties with a signed area of 55,300 m², up 284% YoY.

Meng Xinzeng, a senior analyst at the China Index Academy, noted that the increase in new home transactions in cities like Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Chengdu during this year's Labour Day holiday was partly due to the promotional activities such as the Good Housing Festival and the Home Buying Season launched in these cities.

For example, many new housing projects in Beijing offered discounts, with some properties providing additional discounts on already discounted prices; some projects outside Shanghai's outer ring road introduced multiple promotions during the holiday; Shenzhen offered special price properties, rent-to-buy, and trade-in promotions, with over 30 projects participating; Wuhan released the "Han Nine Measures" on April 30 and launched a home buying festival on the same day; Xi'an conducted discount promotions before the Labour Day holiday, with some properties offering special price and fixed-price units.

"These promotional activities attracted potential homebuyers, effectively releasing the potential of rigid and improved housing demand, and played a certain role in promoting transactions," said Meng Xinzeng.

Analysts pointed out that while the trading volume in core cities has increased, it is also noted that the popularity in many cities has experienced a phased pullback.

According to monitoring data from the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, during the 2025 Labour Day holiday (5.01-5.05), the daily average search popularity in the national new home market rose 3.9% MoM but fell 10.3% YoY.

"In first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, the transaction performance of high-quality projects in core areas was good, and promotional activities in suburban areas also supported transactions; the proportion of large-sized improved housing transactions in Shenzhen increased, boosting new home transactions. However, overall, the popularity during this year's Labour Day holiday did not meet expectations YoY. The overall popularity pulled back, partly due to the diversion of holiday consumption and the continued market differentiation, with many cities experiencing longer home buying observation periods, such as Hefei, Shaoxing, Dalian, Huzhou, Haikou, Zibo, and Hohhot," said an analyst from the 58 Anjuke Research Institute.

In terms of housing price performance, data from the China Index Academy shows that in April this year, the average price of new commercial residential properties in 100 cities was 16,764 yuan/m², up 0.14% MoM, with the increase narrowing by 0.03 percentage points from March, and up 2.5% YoY; 56 cities saw a MoM decline, with the number of declining cities increasing by 5 from the previous month.

For second-hand homes, the average price in 100 cities in April was 13,892 yuan/m², down 0.69% MoM, with the decline widening by 0.1 percentage points from March, and all 100 cities saw a MoM decline; down 7.23% YoY.

"In April, the trading volume in the new home market experienced a phased pullback MoM; influenced by structural factors, the prices of new homes in hot topic cities rose, while second-hand home prices are still adjusting overall. The future direction remains to be seen. If transactions continue to pull back in May, market expectations may lead to new policies to further stabilize the property market," said an analyst from a real estate agency.

CRIC analysts believe that the total transaction volume in May may continue to fluctuate at a low level, with the market maintaining a weak recovery trend, while some weak second-tier and third- and fourth-tier cities still need to address high inventory issues in the short term, facing certain pressure in overall destocking.

In Meng Xinzeng's view, the Politburo meeting at the end of April emphasized "continuing to consolidate the stable situation of the real estate market," and it is expected that more favorable policies for the property market will be introduced in the future.

"Urban renewal will become an important engine to activate housing consumption, and more cities may promote the release of home buying demand by lowering the threshold for home purchases and increasing the intensity of home purchase subsidies. At the same time, the support for the acquisition policy of existing commercial housing is expected to increase, and by improving supporting policies to address the bottlenecks in acquisition and storage, the revitalization of existing properties will be accelerated," said Meng Xinzeng.