Housing firms emerge from '14 relatively unscathed

China's major real estate companies are expected to have emerged relatively unscathed from the grim market realities of 2014, by delivering results far better than the industry average.

Although most developers are yet to release their annual financial reports, private research institutions have already compiled annual rankings based on their own findings, which show that despite the market downturn, the major players were able to enjoy the benefits of simply being the largest.

Seven developers — Greenland Holding Group Co Ltd, China Vanke Co Ltd, Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co Ltd, Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd, Evergrande Group, Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd — have now entered what one listing called the “over 100 billion yuan ($16.12 billion) club”.

According to a ranking compiled by China Index Academy, the research branch of SouFun Holdings Ltd, 80 Chinese developers hit annual contracted sales of more than 10 billion yuan, compared with 71 in 2013 (a rise then of 18 companies on 2012).

Their combined sales topped 2.8 trillion yuan, compared with 2.3 trillion yuan two years ago.

Over the first 11 months of 2014, total sales measured by floor space declined 8.2 percent to 1 billion sq m, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, while the total amount of residential floor space sold fell by 10 percent.

Property sales by 20 major developers tracked by China Real Estate Information Corp grew 18 percent in 2014, 7 percentage points lower than 2013, with more than half missing their sales targets set at the start of the year.

Its figures showed the sector's best performance was by Guangzhou-based Yuexiu Property Co Ltd, which registered a 50.7 percent increase in sales, followed by Shanghai-based CIFI Group (up 45.6 percent) and Guangzhou-based Evergrande Group (up 37 percent).

Thanks to a series of easing policies since August, property sales stabilized toward the end of the year from a serious correction in the first half. Monthly sales started to grow on a month-on-month basis from October, with December's expected to continue that trend.

The latest stimulus measure has come from the Beijing government, which said people who buy a first home covering 90 sq m or less will be eligible for housing-fund loans of up to 1.2 million yuan. The previous upper limit was 800,000 yuan.