Lin Zhenhong, Head of Real Estate Research for UBS Group Investment Bank in the Asia-Pacific and Greater China region, stated that the secondary market transactions in first-tier and core second-tier cities have remained at a high level after the Lunar New Year, with homeowners' bargaining power increasing, and house prices are expected to stay stable. As for second-tier cities, they are still in the inventory reduction phase and it is anticipated that it will take until the fourth quarter to reach lower levels.

Lin Zhenhong believes that it is challenging for private enterprises in the mainland to recover in the short term because the financial threshold for land bidding has risen; funding now needs to be sourced from their own resources or through public bonds issued domestically and internationally, but private enterprises find it difficult to obtain funds from the market without collateral.

Regarding the upcoming performance announcements of domestic property companies, he indicated that while the performance can reflect the sales situation of last year, developers acquired land as early as 2021, so the data shows a lag, stressing that the market should pay attention to the future outlook of developers and the recent land bidding situations.

UBS Group has raised the forecast for real estate sales floor area from 7% to 13% for 2025 to 2026, and has increased the expectation for new construction area by 6% to 12%.