(Yicai Global) Jan. 3 -- China’s top 100 real estate developers posted a more than 40 percent plunge in sales last year because of weak demand.

The top 100 had CNY6.5 trillion (USD942.5 billion) of sales last year, down almost 42 percent from 2021, according to statistics from China Real Estate Information Corporation, a real estate data cruncher. Sales totaled CNY677.5 billion (USD98.5 billion) in December, up 22 percent on November but down 31 percent from a year earlier.

Developers launched promotions at the end of last year, but full-year sales fell at nearly 90 percent of the top 100 firms.

The number whose annual sales exceeded CNY100 billion more than halved to 20 from 43 in 2021, CRIC noted in its report.

Foshan-based Country Garden remained China’s No. 1 real estate company, with CNY464.3 billion in sales, followed by Poly Development and Holdings Group with CNY457.3 billion and China Vanke with CNY420.2 billion.

Debt-ridden China Evergrande Group saw sales plunge nearly 90 percent to CNY45.5 billion (USD6.6 billion), falling to 42nd place from fifth in 2021. Sunac China, another troubled developer, slid to 11th from third after sales dived 70 percent to CNY169.2 billion.

Chinese policy on the property market will remain loose this year, but it will face tremendous pressure in the first half, Ding Zuyu, chief executive of E-House China, the parent company of CRIC, said at a press conference at the end of last year.

The market will start to recover from the second half, with June being a critical month for it to stop falling and stabilize, Ding said.

China brought out policies to boost the real estate market in the second half of last year, such as lowering interest rates on mortgages, expanding financing channels, and lifting restrictions on home purchases in some areas.

Ding noted that China can further stimulate the market this year by cutting taxes on real estate transactions and lifting restrictions on buying houses in first-tier cities.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione