Most people are watching Europe and the unfolding energy crisis but the collapse in confidence in Chinese real estate could also be a multi-year drag on growth.
The WSJ today reports on comments from Country Garden Holdings, which for years ranked as the top developer in China in terms of sales. It cited weakening expectations, sluggish demand, declines in property prices and resurgent covid.
“All these exert mounting pressure on all participants in the property market, which has slid rapidly into severe depression,” the company said.
To illustrate, it earned $89m in the first half compared $2.2b a year earlier. That's a relatively rosy performace compared to some of its competitors, which are struggling with solvency and inventory that won't move.
