Authorities order property data firms to stop publishing developer sales stats
China’s real estate data is about to get a lot less transparent.
On November 30, Bloomberg reported that the housing bureau (MoHURD) has ordered two real estate data providers to suspend data publication until further notice.
- Sources said institutions with paid access can still obtain the figures, but must keep the data confidential.
ICYDK: The two private data providers – China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC) and China Index Academy – publish early monthly data on home sales.
- The figures give us an early read on housing-market dynamics, weeks before official stats drop.
This isn’t the first time authorities have clamped down on negative property data: In recent years, regulators have stopped publishing nationwide land sales disclosures, shelved progress reports on state-sponsored property buybacks, and cracked down on online “bearish narratives” about the property market.
Get smart: Clamping down on early housing indicators risks deepening investor and homebuyer skepticism at a moment when confidence is already in short supply.
The bigger picture: Resorting to data suppression suggests officials are running out of viable policy levers and are now managing optics instead of fundamentals.
- That’s an extremely bearish signal for property-sector dynamics heading into 2026.