China’s First-Tier Cities See New-Home Sales Rise Year-on-Year in Early September

The breadth of the year-on-year gains matters more than their size: all four first-tier new-home markets and every tracked second-hand market moved higher, while second-tier cities split. That divergence suggests the recovery is concentrated in the most liquid, policy-sensitive tier rather than broad-based, which is the distinction worth watching. Whether the second-tier laggards follow over the coming weeks is the open question, and it will shape how durable this early-September signal proves.