China's Housing Crash is Gathering Momentum

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While it is nothing new, watching this in real time is really quite instructive. Vanke is the largest mainland property developer and according to Caixin Online:

In the fourth quarter, Vanke's sales in 14 major cities dropped 45 percent by area from a year earlier, while home transactions in smaller cities also slowed down significantly 

The drop in sales of 45% is staggering! At the same time properties are exiting the construction pipeline, increasing inventories and necessitating an aggressive sales approach (read "fire sale"). Developers are already starting to offer deep discounts on new condos. Realtors are also getting desperate - one WhatIf source in Shanghai said agents would position themselves at crossroads and after waiting for the light to turn red, try to pass out leaflets to the drivers of expensive cars.