China Index Academy: In January, the TOP 30 centralized long-term rental apartment companies had a total of 1.263 million opened units, an increase of approximately 7,000 units month-on-month

According to the statistics from the China Index Academy, as of January 2025, the total number of operational units of the TOP 30 centralized long-term rental apartment companies reached 1.263 million, an increase of approximately 7,000 units compared to December.

In terms of classification, among the TOP 30 operational rankings, there are 12 housing rental companies, 7 local state-owned enterprises, 6 entrepreneurial companies, 3 hotel-related companies, 1 intermediary company, and 1 financial company. At the beginning of the year, the number of new projects opened by long-term rental apartment companies was limited, with hotel-related and housing companies increasing their operational scale by 5,000 units and 1,000 units, respectively.

Management Scale Ranking: The TOP 30 companies' total managed units increased to 1.827 million

According to the statistics from the China Index Academy, as of January 2025, the total number of managed units of the TOP 30 centralized long-term rental apartment companies reached 1.827 million, an increase of approximately 7,000 units compared to December.

In terms of classification, among the TOP 30 management rankings, there are 12 housing rental companies, 8 local state-owned enterprises, 6 entrepreneurial companies, 3 hotel-related companies, and 1 intermediary company. Compared to December, the management scale of hotel-related and housing companies increased by 6,000 units and 1,000 units, respectively.

Company Dynamics

Construction and Operation

In January, many state-owned enterprises actively promoted the construction and operation of rental housing projects such as guaranteed rental housing or talent apartments. For example, the first concrete modular high-rise building constructed in high-density urban areas under Shenzhen Anju has been fully capped. Projects such as Jin Investment's "Yujia" Renhu Li, Lanwan Apartment, Wuhan Urban Investment Anjiale Apartment · Konggang New City Store, Hangzhou Linkong Construction Investment Group Lingkong Talent Star Apartment, and Chengdu Airport Development Group Konggang Suiyu · Rongyue Yayuan have successively opened or started trial operations. At the same time, well-known brand operators like Wochao have also launched multiple projects, such as the first Wochao International Apartment Community in Nanjing at Jiangxinzhou, and the Wochao International Apartment Community in Ningbo Qiaobi has entered trial operation, while Wochao Apartment · Chengdu Zhaojue Temple Store has opened for registration.

Business Expansion

In January, Ascott signed a formal agreement with the Optics Valley International Community to plan the creation of nearly 500 apartment and hotel units, introducing a mature international accommodation product system to Wuhan Optics Valley. China Orient, in collaboration with China Chengtong, signed an investment cooperation agreement with Zhuhai Huafa Industrial Co., Ltd. through a special fund for revitalizing state-owned enterprise land assets, successfully completing the launch of the guaranteed rental housing project in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, marking the first investment project of the land fund. Wuhan Urban Construction Group and Urban Construction Asset Company (Wuhan Anju Group) signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Anju Chain Company for the long-term rental apartment project in Jiang'an District, and Wuhan Anju Group completed the external expansion of its first light asset operation project Brand Building

In January, Chengjing Rental Group launched four major product lines: Chengjing·Qingshe, Chengjing·Liyu, Chengjing·Yueju, and Chengjing·Zhenxiang, covering the housing needs of diverse customer groups including blue-collar workers, new graduates, young white-collar workers, family users, mid-level and senior executives in enterprises. Hefei High-tech Co., Ltd. officially released the rental housing brand "High-tech Cloud Fruit," symbolizing "Cloud Opens All, Fruit Grows Thousands of Homes," aiming to support urban development, lead living trends, and become a strong guarantee for serving cities, high-tech areas, and talents, achieving a win-win situation for talents and cities.

Rental Housing Supply

Guangxi Autonomous Region: Since 2024, the Finance Department of the Autonomous Region has supported the collection and allocation of 5,440 units of guaranteed housing, supported the implementation of 19 urban village renovation projects, benefiting approximately 24,100 households; allocated 275 million yuan to support the construction of rental-type guaranteed housing, involving about 40,000 units of guaranteed rental housing and 420 public rental housing units, accelerating the improvement of a housing security system centered on public rental housing, guaranteed rental housing, and shared ownership housing.

Jinhua: A total of 130,000 units of guaranteed rental housing have been constructed, benefiting a total population of 265,000.

Huizhou: According to statistics, Huizhou plans to collect and construct 6,192 units of guaranteed rental housing in 2024, with a total of 6,535 units currently under construction; last year, 2,899 units of guaranteed rental housing were planned for completion, and as of now, 4,755 units have been completed, with a completion rate exceeding 100%.

Beijing: In 2024, 71,000 units of guaranteed rental housing will be constructed, and 83,000 units of various types of guaranteed housing will be completed. In 2025, the "Guarantee + Market" housing supply system will continue to be improved, prioritizing the supply of residential land around subway stations and densely populated employment areas, constructing 50,000 units of guaranteed rental housing and completing 80,000 units of various types of guaranteed housing.

Shanghai: In the past year, 72,000 units of guaranteed rental housing have been constructed, and 30,300 beds have been newly allocated for the homes of new urban builders and managers. Improving the living quality of citizens. By 2025, 70,000 units of guaranteed rental housing will be constructed, achieving a total of 600,000 units by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, and more than 30,000 beds for the "New Era Urban Builders and Managers" will be allocated. A total of 3,000 elevators will be installed in existing multi-story residential buildings.

Henan Province: In 2024, Henan Province will have constructed a total of 300,000 talent apartments and newly collected 47,000 units of guaranteed rental housing. In 2025, efforts will be made to stabilize the real estate market. Utilizing local government special bonds to support the revitalization of idle land, new land reserves, and the acquisition of existing commercial housing, an additional 57,000 units of guaranteed housing will be provided.

Guangzhou: In 2024, Guangzhou plans to construct 107,900 units of guaranteed rental housing, 10,200 units of allocated guaranteed housing, and issue rental subsidies for 21,900 public rental housing households.

Tianjin: Since last year, the city has actively increased the construction and supply of guaranteed housing, implementing multiple measures to improve the housing security system, effectively solving housing difficulties for new citizens, young people, and disadvantaged groups. As of now, a total of 91,000 units of guaranteed rental housing have been constructed, with 53,000 units completed, and 38,000 units are in operation, with an average rental rate exceeding 90% in the central urban area Zhengzhou: As of January, Zhengzhou has built nearly 140,000 public rental housing units and gathered 123,000 talent apartments, with the reserve of these two types of guaranteed housing reaching 263,000 units; in 2024, Zhengzhou also innovatively launched the sale-type guaranteed housing, with a total of 4,324 units from two phases.

Quanzhou: As of January, Quanzhou's central urban area has gathered and constructed 87 projects of guaranteed rental housing, totaling 8,222 units. Ten industrial parks and enterprises have completed a total of 1,842 units of guaranteed housing projects.

Hainan Province: In 2024, the investment and completion of affordable housing projects in the province exceeded the annual plan, with 20,400 units of affordable housing completed, 3,929 units of guaranteed rental housing gathered, housing rental subsidies issued to 17,600 households, 8,276 units of urban village renovation resettlement housing started, 1,598 households of dilapidated houses in reclamation areas renovated, and 5,239 units of resettlement housing delivered.

Jinan: Statistics show that in 2024, the city gathered 15,400 units of guaranteed rental housing, issued rental housing subsidies to 49,000 households totaling 168 million yuan, and issued home purchase subsidies of 423 million yuan to nearly 3,800 high-level talents.

Xiangtan: A total of 967 units of guaranteed rental housing were started, with a completion rate of 100%, and rental subsidies were issued to 1,941 households, achieving a completion rate of 115.88%.

Market Operation

1. Rental Price Index of 50 Cities: In January, the average residential rent in 50 cities fell by 0.40% month-on-month and 3.31% year-on-year

In January 2025, approaching the Spring Festival holiday, the demand in the housing rental market remained subdued, with average rents in key cities continuing to show a slight downward trend, although the decline was narrower than in December 2024. According to the China Index 50 Cities Residential Rental Price Index, the average residential rent in 50 cities nationwide in January was 35.3 yuan/square meter/month, down 0.40% month-on-month, a decrease of 0.15 percentage points compared to December 2024; year-on-year, it fell by 3.31%, an increase of 0.06 percentage points compared to December 2024.

2. Rental Prices in Key Cities: Only 2 cities in the 50 cities saw a month-on-month increase in average residential rent

In January 2025, the number of cities with a month-on-month increase in average residential rent was 2, a decrease of 3 compared to December 2024. Specifically, Harbin increased by 0.14% month-on-month, and Dongguan increased by 0.02%.

In January 2025, the number of cities with a month-on-month decrease in average residential rent was 48, an increase of 3 compared to December 2024. Specifically, Jiaxing had the largest decline at 1.12%; Hangzhou, Wenzhou, and 13 other cities saw a month-on-month decline between 0.5% and 1.0%; Ningbo, Hohhot, and 17 other cities saw a decline between 0.3% and 0.5%; Guiyang, Nanning, and 12 other cities saw a decline between 0.1% (inclusive) and 0.3%; Urumqi, Shenzhen, and 5 other cities saw a decline within 0.1%

Land Intelligence

In 22 key cities, a total of 63 residential land transactions were completed, with Hangzhou leading in transaction scale. In January 2025, a total of 63 residential land transactions were completed in 22 key cities, with a total planned construction area of approximately 3.88 million square meters. Specifically, in terms of cities, both Hangzhou and Suzhou had transaction scales exceeding 500,000 square meters, while Beijing, Changsha, and six other cities had transaction scales between 200,000 and 500,000 square meters. Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, and Shenzhen had transaction scales between 100,000 and 200,000 square meters, and six cities including Chengdu and Shenyang had transaction areas of less than 100,000 square meters.

In January, only one rental land transaction was completed in the 22 key cities. Among the residential land transactions in January, only the plot in the Songjiang District of Shanghai included 5% of public rental housing land, with a planned construction area of approximately 3,487 square meters.