First-Tier Cities See High-Premium Land Sales as Core Parcels Fuel Competition

On July 28, 2026, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen—the four first-tier cities in China—conducted land transfers on the same day, with multiple parcels transacting at high premium rates.

Shanghai held its sixth batch of concentrated land supply, offering three residential-commercial parcels with a total starting price of RMB 17.872 billion. The final total transaction amount reached about RMB 23.514 billion. The Badatou plot in Yangpu district, with a starting price of RMB 11.868 billion, was won by a joint venture of Poly Developments and China Resources Land after 219 rounds of bidding for RMB 16.12 billion, resulting in a comprehensive floor price of RMB 102,023 per square meter and a premium rate of 35.83%. The Xuhui Kangjian Street plot was acquired by a consortium of Shanghai Huicheng Real Estate Management Co. , Ltd. and Shanghai Poly Urban Development Co. for RMB 7.06 billion, with a floor price of about RMB 79,072 per square meter and a premium of 24.51%. The Fengxian New City plot was won at the reserve price of RMB 334 million by a consortium of Shanghai Fengxian New City Shangjiangnan Real Estate Co. and a subsidiary of Far East Horizon, with a floor price of RMB 20,600 per square meter.

In Beijing, a residential plot in Jiuxianqiao, Chaoyang district, with a planned floor area of 57,750 square meters and a starting price of RMB 3.72 billion, received six rounds of online bids before the auction. With six developers participating in on-site bidding, after 248 rounds, China Overseas Land & Investment won the plot for a total of RMB 4.6814 billion, at a floor price of RMB 81,063 per square meter and a premium of 25.84%.

In Guangzhou, the AF021637 plot on Huadi Avenue East in Liwan district attracted five developers: Poly Developments, Yuexiu, Zhujiang Industrial, China Overseas, and Greentown China. After 50 rounds of bidding, Guangzhou Lyusheng Real Estate Development Co. , a subsidiary of Greentown China, won the plot for a total of about RMB 1.686 billion, a premium of 40.97%.

In Shenzhen, the first residential plot of the year in Guangming district was auctioned recently. After 46 rounds of bidding, Shenzhen Zhaohui Real Estate Co. , a wholly owned subsidiary of China Merchants Shekou, secured the plot for a total of RMB 1.505 billion, a premium of about 18.88%, translating to a floor price of RMB 22,872.34 per square meter.

Data from the China Index Academy shows that in the first half of 2026, the area of residential land sold across 300 cities and the total land transfer fees fell by 23.7% and 31.2% year-on-year, respectively, with an average premium rate of 9.1%. However, the average premium rate in first-tier cities reached 19.8%, the highest among all city tiers. Land auction heat for high-quality plots in core cities persisted, with Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen showing notable activity. In the first half, the top 20 cities by residential land transfer fees accounted for about 62% of the national total, with Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Beijing ranking in the top three nationally. Among the top 100 enterprises by land purchase amount, 74 were central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and local state-owned enterprises, accounting for 85.1% of the total. The number of local SOEs increased by three compared with the end of 2025, but their share of land purchase amount remained essentially unchanged. Private enterprises' land purchases remained at a relatively low level, with 15 private firms in the top 100, up three from the end of 2025, but their share of land purchase amount stayed at about 10%, mainly concentrated in cities where they have deep roots such as Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Chongqing.