China’s largest cities are seeing a surge in secondhand home sales despite falling prices, with Shenzhen recording 2,390 transactions last week, its highest in three years. However, lived-in home prices dropped 7% in Shenzhen, 10% in Shanghai, and 12% in Beijing during the first 11 months of 2024. Nomura’s chief China economist Lu Ting warns it’s premature to call a market bottom, attributing the sales uptick to pent-up demand and buyer incentives. New home sales fell 22% YoY to 6.7 trillion RMB ($920 billion) in the first 10 months, with major developers China Vanke and Country Garden reporting November sales declines of 34.4% and 52.3% respectively.