More than 80 percent of the listed Chinese  property developers posted year-on-year declines in transaction area in January, and an increasing number are beginning to offer discounts amid a sluggish market and continued real estate curbs, reports Xinhua News Agency, citing E-house China R&D Institute.

The total transaction area in January recorded by 15 large property developers, such as China Vanke (000002,200002), Evergrande Real Estate (3333.HK), and China Merchants Property Development (000024), fell 23.2 percent month-on-month and 47.8 percent year-on-year to 3.24 million square meters.

These 15 developers posted 3.01 percent month-on-month and 12.39 percent year-on-year declines in the average transaction price to 9,900 yuan per square meter.

Sino-Ocean Land (3377.HK) posted the biggest drop in transactions in January, with an 81.1 percent year-on-year plunge in transaction area.

According to Su Yan, a senior researcher at E-house, the weak performances were the result of the property curbs and to  expectations of home buyers for further price declines.

Transactions of commercial residential homes in Beijing in January fell 81 percent from the 8,398 units posted in the same period last year, to 1,605 units. The average transaction price dropped 19 percent year-on-year to 18,691 yuan per square meter.

Su said Poly Real Estate Group (600048), Evergrande, China Merchants Property, and Vanke had given home buyers significant discounts, and discounting activities is taking place at an earlier period this year compared with previous years. 

These developers are selling homes built on land obtained during the 2009-2010 period when land costs were high, and this will limit the scope of further price reductions, added Su.

According to Home Link, there was a significant fall in the number of land plots transacted in 20 major cities in January, with only three plots transacted in Shanghai, down from the 27 sold a year earlier.

Since 2012, the number of residential land plots nationwide which failed to find buyers surged 325 percent.

According to Feng Lianlian, a researcher at Home Link, with developers suffering from tightened liquidity, they are less willing to buy land.