The slump in property sales continues in July after a modest improvement from easing COVID restrictions in June. The most concerning developments are deepening declines in developers’ completions of presold houses, which have sparked a growing movement of households refusing to pay mortgages. Beijing is likely to respond to these developments in the weeks and months ahead, but the drop in developers’ land purchases and the pipeline of future construction activity is likely to continue as more resources are channeled to completing presold houses.
