Retail property markets in China’s first-tier cities showed signs of improvement in the last quarter of 2023, and experts are projecting sustained momentum in 2024, underpinned by a gradual increase in retail sales as sentiment begins to turn, reports the South China Morning Post.
Beijing’s retail property market outperformed as commercial real estate markets steadied across the country. China’s capital saw a drop in the average vacancy rate in the last quarter of 2023 to its lowest level since the second quarter of 2022, while rental rates increased, according to a report released on January 4 by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a real estate investment management firm.
This was fuelled in part by improved consumption, the report said, and the growth momentum is likely to continue this year. “As the positive momentum of economic recovery continues to consolidate, Beijing’s commercial real estate market is expected to be led by a gradual improvement in demand in the overall recovery process,” said Rayman Zhang, managing director at JLL.