Citi has released a research report stating that during the Mainland's Golden Week, both primary and secondary home transactions performed strongly, with policy transmission appearing more broad-based and consistent in the secondary market; among the 26 cities tracked by the bank, secondary transactions rose 53% year-on-year, with all cities recording growth, while primary sales in 13 cities rose 41% year-on-year, though improvements were concentrated in a handful of cities, with underlying performance remaining polarized.

On the primary market side, the report noted that new home registrations across the 13 tracked cities rose 41% year-on-year, increasing from 1,991 units to 2,812 units, mainly driven by Hangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, and Beijing, which rose 347%, 259%, 244%, and 145% year-on-year respectively.

Among tier-one cities, Beijing clearly outperformed, while Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen fell 2.2%, 7.2%, and 42% year-on-year respectively, partly due to limited supply; Chengdu also fell 40% year-on-year.

The bank believes the wide divergence indicates that the recovery in the primary market has not yet fully spread.

On the secondary market side, transactions across the 26 tracked cities increased from 18,038 units to 27,720 units, with every city recording growth.

Regional hub cities led the gains, including Qingdao, Nanchang, Xuzhou, and Hefei, which rose 111%, 97%, 95%, and 94% year-on-year respectively.

Tier-one cities also improved in tandem: Shanghai rose 75% year-on-year, Beijing rose 51%, Shenzhen rose 40%, and Guangzhou rose 35%.

The bank believes that the broad participation across cities at all tiers supports the view that secondary demand is leading the recovery in property transaction volume.