China’s property managers pivot to elderly services and pet care amid real estate woes

China’s years-long real estate downturn is slowing growth and forcing China’s property managers to look for new sources of income, from accompanying the elderly to doctor appointments to walking dogs.

Recently, a property manager in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province, looked after a family’s pet chickens while they were away, according to a post from the sprawling city’s property management association. The manager fed them, moved them to an air-conditioned room following signs of heatstroke, and even calmed them down when the birds began to fight. The manager received a banner of appreciation from the family.

The case showed how some of the country’s property managers would go above and beyond to adapt to a new reality, in which years of rapid growth had come to an end, analysts said.

It was a strategy to cope with sector-wide pressure, as well as a “proactive move to capture new market opportunities”, said Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China Research and Development Institute.

Last year, the total revenue from the top 500 property managers grew 3.7 per cent to 595.4 billion yuan (US$83.6 billion), according to CRIC Property Management, the research and data services arm of China Real Estate Information Corporation (CRIC), a leading real estate information provider. It was a sharp contrast to the 22 per cent growth in 2021 when China imposed the “three red lines” to curb the excessive borrowing of real estate developers and deflate the housing bubble.