In the January-March period this year, total real estate investments in China amounted to RMB 1772.0 billion ($258.3 billion), down 11.2 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage points faster than the decline recorded in the January-February period, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In the given period, new commercial real estate sold in China covered a total area of 195.25 million m2, down 10.4 percent year on year, 3.1 percentage points slower than the decline recorded in the first two months. There has been some improvement in sales in March, but still in comparison to 2025, sales have been weaker.
In the first three months, the total area covered by construction activity in China declined by 11.7 percent year on year.
The new area covered by construction activity in China, which is directly connected with steel consumption in this segment, decreased by 20.3 percent year on year, lower than the 23.1 percent year-on-year drop seen in the first two months of the year. This also signals a small improvement in March, but market sources still agree that, while the pace of decline in new construction is above 10 percent, the real estate market as a steel consuming industry is standing in a deteriorating zone.
According to the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, the share of the construction industry in total steel consumption in China fell to 49 percent in 2025, losing as much as nine percentage points compared to a 58 percent share in 2020. The pace of decline in steel usage in the construction segment was especially strong last year, when it shrunk by 13 percent. The projection for 2026 is a continued downtrend, but steel demand is expected to decline at a slower pace - by around 4.1 percent. Considering the situation in the first quarter, the real estate market in China is expected to post somewhat better results later this year.