China's residential foreclosures increase in 2024 amid property slump

BEIJING (Reuters) - The number of foreclosed homes in China rose in 2024 from the previous year, a private-sector survey showed on Tuesday, heightening concerns about mortgage delinquencies amid a property slump and uneven economic growth.

The number of repossessed homes up for auction stood at 370,000 in 2024, up from 364,000 in 2023, the report from China Index Academy, an independent real estate research firm, said.

A total of 117,000 repossessed homes were successfully sold with the total value of transactions at 163.6 billion yuan ($22.33 billion), a 1.9% year-on-year decrease.

Total foreclosures, including commercial, residential and industrial properties, land, garages and parking spaces, totalled 768,000 units, a slight 0.9% decrease from 2023, the survey showed.

The majority of foreclosed homes were found in tier-three and tier-four cities, with a total of 63,871, according to the company. There were 45,997 foreclosed homes in tier-two cities and 6,994 in tier-one cities.

The number of foreclosures has been gradually rising since 2020 and continued to rise in 2024, the firm said in a separate report last year.

Since 2021, a severe property crisis triggered by a government-led initiative to curb indebted developers has eroded consumer wealth and household spending.

Policymakers are optimistic that the recent loosening of fiscal and monetary settings will drive a turnaround in the property market, which has been a drag on the broader economy.

($1 = 7.3274 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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