BEIJING — An end is in sight for China's yearslong property market slump, S&P Global Ratings analysts said in a report distributed Thursday.
Residential real estate prices may hit a bottom in the third quarter of 2028, the report said. It added that prices in China's largest cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, will likely recover as soon as next year.
That's a big shift from February, when S&P said high levels of unsold housing kept "a property market recovery out of reach."
What's changed since are two government policies, according to the report's author Edward Chan, a credit analyst at S&P Global Ratings.
In August, Beijing announced new restrictions on developers' ability to sell unfinished properties. A month later, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the government would roll out policies for stabilizing the real estate sector. Beijing subsequently launched a mortgage rate subsidy for first-time homebuyers of units less than 1.5 million yuan ($220,000) and smaller than 120 square meters (1291.67 square feet).