China’s rural banks struggle to sell seized properties

Heavy discounts fail to attract buyers, exposing deeper stress in the housing market and raising risks for lenders and the wider economy, writes Reuters

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Residential buildings are seen under construction at the Tao Yuan Tian Jing project, developed by China Evergrande Group, in Yangzhou, China, on Sept 7, 2023.

(BLOOMBERG)

Chinese rural banks are unable to find buyers for hundreds of foreclosed properties they are auctioning despite offering steep discounts, deepening a real estate crisis and adding to risks for the financial sector and the broader economy.

Several less-developed regions that suffered steep home price declines saw a surge in bank-initiated property sales last year, a Reuters review of bank-supplied listings on JD.com Asset Trading Platform, one of China’s largest online auction places, showed.

The properties were mainly offered for sale by local rural banks, the platform showed. They were priced at discounts of 20% to 30% to the market, according to analysts, bankers and real estate agents.

The scramble comes as properties, traditionally a high-quality collateral for bank loans in the world's second-largest economy, have been sharply revalued downward due to steep price declines across China's housing market.

The rush to sell foreclosed properties at low prices reflects how smaller rural banks, facing surging bad loans and limited capital buffers, are racing to cut their losses.

"The prices are shockingly low," said Li Youcai, a real estate agent in Dalian, Liaoning province. "Currently, banks have a very large supply of foreclosed properties."