SHANGHAI: China’s home sales slump persisted in May as Covid outbreaks and lockdowns in key cities overshadowed efforts to revive buyer confidence.

       The 100 biggest real estate developers saw new-home sales plummet 59% last month from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from China Real Estate Information Corp. The drop matched April’s decline as the biggest this year.

       The figures are another blow for the embattled property sector, which has been hit by both strict Covid-19 lockdowns and liquidity crisis among developers.

       Under pressure to halt an economic slowdown, Chinese authorities stepped up their efforts in May to salvage the residential market by urging banks to lend more, lower mortgage costs and ease rules on owning multiple properties.

       The property industry’s debt woes have been spreading to stronger firms as weaker sales hurt cash inflow.

       State-backed Greenland Holdings Corp last week shocked investors by seeking to delay repayment on a dollar bond.

       This spurred a broader selloff among higher-rated companies such as Country Garden Holdings Co.

       Property sales will remain weak, although the magnitude of the decline in sales will gradually narrow over the second half of 2022. — Bloomberg