According to data from the China Index Academy, the total land acquisition amount for the top 100 real estate enterprises from January to May reached 241.16 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year decrease of 40.5%. However, the rate of decline narrowed by 6.2 percentage points compared to the previous month. Factors contributing to this narrowing trend over the past three months include a market uptick in core cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the implementation of five-year urban renewal plans, and the recent introduction of new property market policies in various regions.
State-owned and central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) remained the primary force in land acquisitions. Leading SOEs such as CHINA RES LAND, Yuexiu Property, Poly Development, and China Jinmao were among the top spenders. In May, land auctions in key cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou saw several plots fetch significant premiums. For instance, plots in Shanghai's Pudong New Area reached a suspension price, triggering a competitive bidding phase for high-quality development indicators, resulting in a 40% premium. Another plot in Hongkou District achieved a 17.21% premium, while a plot in Beijing's Fengtai District saw a 16.4% premium.
In terms of new inventory value, Yuexiu Property led with 81.4 billion yuan, followed by CHINA RES LAND with 76.5 billion yuan, and Poly Development with 45.9 billion yuan. The total new inventory value for the top 10 enterprises was 326 billion yuan, accounting for 43.6% of the top 100, with the entry threshold at 3.1 billion yuan.
Private enterprises continued to focus on their core markets, replenishing land reserves moderately, with their acquisition scale significantly reduced compared to the same period last year. From January to May, only one private firm, Binjiang Group, was among the top 10, and one, Dahuazhiye Group, was in the 11-20 range, down from three in the previous year. No private firms were in the 21-30 range, compared to two last year. The total land acquisition by private firms in the top 30 plummeted to approximately 8.65 billion yuan from 43 billion yuan in the same period last year. Private acquisitions were concentrated in cities like Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Rizhao, with some securing plots in core cities in May, such as a plot in Beijing's Fengtai District and a residential plot in Shanghai's Minhang District.
The Yangtze River Delta demonstrated the highest market activity among major city clusters for land acquisitions by the top 10 firms, featuring diverse participants including both SOEs and private enterprises, indicating strong liquidity for premium plots and high participation willingness. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area ranked second, led by Yuexiu Property's 23.6 billion yuan acquisition, highlighting the high-value nature of prime plots in Guangzhou and the dominance of local SOEs. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region ranked third, with central SOEs leading in spending.
Leading developers concentrated their acquisitions across multiple core cities, while private firms remained focused on their深耕 cities. For example, Poly Development ranked in the top three for spending in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hangzhou; CHINA RES LAND ranked in the top three in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. Private firms like Binjiang Group led in Hangzhou, and Dahuazhiye Group ranked in the top three in Shanghai, leveraging local market advantages to expand their reserves.
In May, leading central SOEs secured several high-value plots in core cities. Among the top 10 residential land transactions by total price, Shanghai and Hangzhou each had three plots, Beijing had two, and Shenzhen and Chengdu each had one. The top-priced transaction was a 7-billion-yuan plot in Shenzhen's Longgang District, acquired by CHINA RES LAND. This plot was originally part of the core area of the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Center" project, won by Shimao Group in 2017 for approximately 23.9 billion yuan. CHINA RES LAND secured two high-value residential plots totaling 8.5 billion yuan this month, while a consortium of Greentown China and Binjiang Group acquired two plots for 3.9 billion yuan.
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