China Index 2025 Housing Enterprise TOP10 Research: 2024 Performance Under Pressure, Future Focus on Core Cities and Company Value Enhancement

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on May 13, the “2025 China Real Estate Listed Companies Research Results Conference and the 23rd Industry-City Integrated Investment and Financing Conference”, hosted by the China Real Estate TOP10 Research Group of the Beijing China Index Information Technology Research Institute, was solemnly held. According to the 2025 Top 10 China Real Estate Listed Companies Research Report released by the China Index Research Institute, in 2024, the revenue of listed real estate companies declined, net profit continued to decline, liquidity pressure remained, and shareholder returns declined. In the future, the new housing market will slowly recover, and the industry will accelerate clean-up and restructuring, focus on core cities, maintain investment intensity, and listed real estate companies with real estate operation and service capabilities will release higher corporate value.

In the first quarter of 2025, the new housing market continued to recover its overall trend. The 4.25 Politburo meeting emphasized the importance of “speeding up the construction of a new model for real estate development” with urban village renovation as the core starting point, “increasing the supply of high-quality housing” and optimizing stock housing acquisition policies. In the current internal and external environment, in order to cope with external uncertainty, the various support policies previously deployed are expected to be implemented at an accelerated pace. With the implementation of policies on both sides of real estate supply and demand, and the supply of superimposed “good house” projects increases, it is expected that the core city market will continue to recover. In this context, investors will pay more attention to the ability of enterprises to operate sustainably, maintain steady operation, focus on core cities, maintain investment intensity, and are more likely to be favored by investors.

Total assets, average net assets and growth rate of listed real estate companies in 2024

Corporate Research: https://u.fang.com/ytcrnn/

In 2024, the total asset size of listed real estate companies grew negatively for three consecutive years, and the decline widened. The average total assets of listed real estate companies were 148.92 billion yuan, down 11.5% from the previous year, and the decline was 2.6 percentage points higher than the previous year; the average net assets were 32.86 billion yuan, down 12.6% from the previous year, and the decline was 5.0 percentage points higher than the previous year. There are 13 companies with negative net assets. From 2022 to 2024, the number of insolvent companies increased year by year.

Central enterprises and local state-owned enterprises have downsized, and private enterprises and mixed ownership enterprises have shrunk even more. In 2024, the average total assets of state-owned enterprises, local state-owned enterprises, mixed ownership enterprises, and private enterprises decreased by 5.5%, 3.4%, 11.9% and 17.6%, respectively, up 6.4, 11.8, 1.0, and 1.6 percentage points from the previous year's decline. The average total assets of local state-owned enterprises and central enterprises increased slightly year-on-year and turned negative during the year. Housing enterprises with different forms of ownership in the industry generally entered a downsizing process.

Judging from the total asset structure, listed housing enterprises are cautious in acquiring land, and the inventory scale is declining at an accelerated pace; due to declining sales and financing restrictions, the scale of monetary capital has declined for three consecutive years; the scale of equity investment by listed housing enterprises has declined, and the pace of investment in holding properties has slowed down. The market is still bottoming out, high-quality land continues to be introduced, construction of “good houses” is accelerating, and various assets are likely to continue to decline.

Average operating income and net profit of listed real estate companies in 2024

Corporate Research: https://u.fang.com/ytcrnn/

In 2024, the revenue growth rate of listed real estate companies declined significantly compared to the previous year. Net profit continued to decline, and the number of loss-making companies increased. The average revenue of listed housing enterprises was 29.74 billion yuan, down 21.0% from the previous year. The growth rate decreased by 22.1 percentage points from the previous year, changing from positive to negative; the average net profit was -3.12 billion yuan, negative for three consecutive years, and losses continued to expand. About 68.1% of listed real estate companies lost money.

In 2024, the average net profit margin and average return on net assets of listed housing enterprises were negative. The return on net assets was continuously negative for the past three years, and the profit situation continued to deteriorate. The average net profit margin and average return on net assets were -27.8% and -21.2%, respectively, an increase of 16.3 percentage points and 2.8 percentage points over the previous year.

Due to the decline in sales in the short term, revenue and profitability will continue to decline. Sales continued to grow negatively in 2022 to 2024. It is expected that as the project gradually enters the carry-over period, the scale of carry-over revenue will maintain a downward trend in the short term. At the same time, the market has declined beyond expectations in the past three years, putting a lot of pressure on gross sales margin in the short term. As this part of sales resources is gradually transferred to completion and delivery, the gross margin carry-over will continue to be under pressure in the short term, and the decline in the market exceeding expectations has had an adverse impact on inventory book value, and the downward pressure on corporate net profit is high.

Debt ratios of listed real estate companies in 2024

Corporate Research: https://u.fang.com/ytcrnn/

In 2024, the industry continued to operate during the adjustment period, and the debt ratios of listed real estate companies all increased. The balance ratio, the average balance ratio after excluding accounts receivable in advance, and the average net debt ratio were 74.5%, 71.8%, and 170.2%, respectively, up 1.6, 3.4, and 21.8 percentage points from the previous year. Over the past few years, many listed housing companies have taken risks, and their debt ratios are extremely high, resulting in extremely high average values. In 2024, the average short-term cash debt ratio of listed real estate companies was 0.95, and the average quick ratio was 0.48. The liquidity performance of listed housing enterprises is divided, the balance sheets of some leading companies continue to improve, and the liquidity of some enterprises has declined.

Changes in the rate of rise and fall in the real estate sector and the general market in the first quarter of 2021-2025

Corporate Research: https://u.fang.com/ytcrnn/

In 2024, the real estate sector was lower and then higher, closing down slightly at the end of the year. The overall performance of listed real estate companies in Shanghai, Shenzhen and the Mainland in Hong Kong was not as good as the market. Affected by factors such as macroeconomic environment and policy changes in 2024, the three major indices closed higher until the end of the year. At the end of the year, the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 closed at 3934.91 points, up 15.4% year on year. Policy expectations for the real estate sector improved after the 9.26 New Deal. The real estate sector quickly rebounded with the market. By the end of the year, the Shenwan Real Estate Index closed at 2157.3 points, down 2.1% from the previous year. At the end of the year, the Hang Seng Index closed at 59.95 points, up 17.7% year over year. The Hong Kong stock real estate sector as a whole fluctuated with the general market. The Hang Seng Mainland China Real Estate Index closed at 1181.54 points at the end of the year, down 17.4% year on year.

In the future, real estate companies should also maintain a strategy of accurate investment, focus on key cities, and focus heavily on high-quality plots in key core cities. Core cities have significant advantages in terms of urban population, industrial economy, etc. These factors provide long-term stable support for the real estate market. However, when acquiring land in core cities, enterprises need to be rational and avoid blindly chasing high-priced plots to reduce investment risks. As consumers' requirements for quality of living continue to rise, housing enterprises have increased their investment in the construction of “good houses”. In the current oversupply market, projects with high product strength can not only attract more potential buyers, but also stand out in a highly competitive market, making it easier to quickly return capital. At the same time, enterprises should focus on familiar fields based on their own brand positioning, resource endowments and market experience to give full play to their competitive advantage. Of course, some listed housing enterprises face operational difficulties, and it is difficult to get out of the quagmire by relying on existing business, so they can actively adjust development strategies and promote the transformation of business into assets.