On September 20, Caixin reported that more than a year after ke holdings announced its entry into the real estate development field, it secured its first independent project.

On September 20, Chengdu released the H12 plot of the Jinjiang Financial City Phase III, with a land area of 0.0158 million square meters and a starting floor price of 19,200 yuan per square meter. After 82 rounds of bidding with more than a dozen real estate companies including Jinmao, China Merchants, and Greentown, the plot was finally won by Beihaojia (Chengdu) Real Estate Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of ke holdings, with a bid price of 1.076 billion yuan, and the transaction floor price was 27,300 yuan per square meter, with a premium rate of 42.19%.

Analysts from the China Index Academy stated that this is the first time that ke holdings has successfully acquired land in the Chengdu land auction market, and the land has refreshed the record for Chengdu floor land price. According to monitoring data from the China Index Academy, the previous highest unit price in Chengdu was for the Linjiaba plot in Jinjiang District, which was sold in April this year. Jinmao won the plot with a floor price of 24,500 yuan per square meter.

According to insiders from ke holdings, based on the characteristics of the plot, the project is initially positioned as a high-end product. It is expected that the entire process will be independently operated by the Beihaojia team, including land acquisition, positioning, design, and marketing.

It is worth noting that this is ke holdings' first independently operated development project, which has led to speculation about whether Beihaojia is transitioning to become a real estate developer.

In response to this, Xu Wangang, vice chairman of ke holdings and CEO of Beihaojia, stated that "managing an independent project does not mean that Beihaojia wants to become a real estate developer."

Furthermore, he stated that the main purpose of independent operation is to better verify the landing capability of Beihaojia's C2M product solution and enhance the cooperation partner's trust in the "1+2 business model".

However, Ke Holdings also faces some challenges when entering the real estate development business. "There are significant differences between real estate development business and property transaction services. Ke Holdings needs to independently manage a project and accumulate experience in project management, engineering and construction, and cost control. Secondly, the real estate development industry is highly competitive and the market environment is complex and changeable. If Ke Holdings intends to develop in this field, it needs to constantly adapt to market changes and adjust its strategic layout," said a real estate analyst.

Public information shows that the Ke Home business line was established in 2023. On July 12th of that year, Ke Holdings upgraded its corporate strategy to "one body, three wings" and formed four business lines: brokerage, home decoration, smart living, and Ke Home.

Among them, the Ke Home business is regarded as a symbol of Ke Holdings' foray into the real estate development field. The company was registered in September 2023 and its main business is real estate development and operation, as well as internet information services.

After the establishment of Ke Home, they recruited many talents from Longhu, Vanke, and other companies to join the management team, and formed a diversified and professional team including AI algorithms, data products, customer research, design and construction, and marketing planning.

It is understood that after the establishment of Ke Home, they mainly focus on project development opportunities in first and second-tier cities. Since 2024, they have participated in multiple land auctions in first and second-tier cities.

Their first appearance in the land auction market was on March 15, 2024. At that time, a land parcel in Shunyi District, Beijing was auctioned, with a starting price of 1.015 billion yuan and a land area of about 0.017 million square meters. The land parcel attracted 37 real estate companies to compete, including Ke Home. Due to fierce competition, the land parcel was determined by lottery, and Ke Holdings failed to acquire it.

Subsequently, Ke Home also participated in the land auction on June 25th in Guangzhou, competing for the land parcel with the code AF040134. The land parcel had a construction area of about 0.0258 million square meters, but it was eventually won by Poly Real Estate, and Ke Home was once again empty-handed.

Ke Holdings made its first breakthrough in the land market at the land auction event held in Xi'an on July 30th. On that day, two commercial and residential land parcels in Wei Yang District, Xi'an were sold for a total price of about 0.134 billion yuan. The land parcels were both acquired by Xi'an Jiajia Zhihe Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Ke Home (Xi'an) Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.

Regarding the land acquisition in Xi'an, Ke Holdings stated that the "latitude twenty-seven street" project in Xi'an is a multi-party cooperation project under the "1+2" model, and according to the needs of the partners, Ke Holdings provides a C2M product positioning scheme based on big data support, as well as funding and marketing services, rather than independently developing the project.

Although Ke Holdings won the land in Xi'an, the Xi'an project is a multi-party cooperation project. Therefore, the land acquired in Chengdu this time is the first project truly operated and developed independently by Ke Holdings.

According to Ke Holdings, the Good Home team has conducted research and learning on hundreds of properties in key cities across the country, and has clarified the positioning of the "data-driven residential development service platform," using C2M to create a new model for real estate development and provide a comprehensive solution for partners such as developers, construction partners, and property owners under the "1+2 business model."

"Entering the real estate development field, Ke Holdings can not only make up for the shortcomings of agency business with the revenue from project development, but also obtain more substantial profits than pure agency business." Bai Wenxi, Chief Economist of IPG China, told reporters. However, currently, Ke Holdings still lacks judgment and operational experience in investing in new real estate projects, which also tests its financial strength and financing capabilities.

"The reason for Ke Holdings' entry into the real estate development field may be related to the current sluggish real estate market, the lack of active trading, and the impact on the company's performance. Relying on the abundant channels and strong financial resources to enter the development field has become a direction and path for Ke Holdings to save its performance and form a competitive advantage." said an industry analyst.

In terms of Ke Holdings' performance, in the first half of 2024, the total transaction volume of Ke Holdings was 1468.9 billion yuan, a decrease of 16.2% year-on-year. Among them, the total transaction volume of existing property transactions was 1023.8 billion yuan, and the total transaction volume of new property transactions was 387.1 billion yuan.