China Real Estate Brokers Face Slowdown
After booming in recent years, China’s real estate market is finally beginning to feel the pinch from sagging demand and tighter controls.
One of China’s biggest real estate agencies, Chuanghui Real Estate, has shuttered dozens of outlets in Shanghai and other cities, leaving behind angry customers and employees, following an ill-timed expansion just as the market was peaking.
Several other agencies around the country also have closed down or scaled back.
So far, the retrenchment appears to be mainly limited to property brokers — the businesses first to feel the pinch when people stop buying new homes, for whatever the reason. But the moves could herald the beginning of a broader slowdown in one of Asia’s hottest real estate markets.