China Vanke, the country’s biggest developer by market share, said government efforts over the past year to rein in soaring prices were having a severe impact on the market and developers were being squeezed after sales volumes in 14 of the country’s largest cities halved in September from a year earlier.
“We can see a trend of declining sales, especially in the major cities,” Shirley Xiao, executive vice-president at China Vanke, said on a conference call with investors on Tuesday. “Prices have begun to decline little by little so we think even buyers who are able to buy will choose to wait for now because they’re targeting even lower price cuts.”