Illuminated skyscrapers stand at the central business district at sunset on November 13, 2023 in Beijing, China.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
BEIJING — China’s commercial property sector is seeing pockets of demand amid an overall real estate slump.
The capital city of Beijing is seeing rents for prime retail locations rise at their fastest pace since 2019, property consultancy JLL said in a report Tuesday. Rents increased by 1.3% during the first three months of this year compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, the report said.
Demand from new food and beverage brands, niche foreign fashion offerings and electric car companies has helped drive the interest in shopping mall storefronts, according to JLL.
The firm expects the demand to persist throughout the year, helping boost rents, which remain well below pre-pandemic levels.
Commercial real estate, which includes office buildings and shopping malls, makes up just a fraction of China’s overall property market.
Sales of offices and commercial-use properties rose 15% and 17%, respectively, by floor area, in January and February from a year earlier, according to Wind Information.
In contrast, floor space of residential properties sold dropped by nearly 25% during that time, the data showed. Sales for both commercial and residential properties had fallen for much of last year, according to Wind.
Covid-19 restrictions on movement had also cut demand for China’s commercial property, in line with global trends. China’s economy, however, took longer than expected to rebound from the pandemic, amid a broader slump in the property market.
Hong Kong-based Swire Properties said in its report last month that it intends to double its gross floor area in mainland China by 2032. The company currently operates high-end shopping complexes branded “Taikoo Li” in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities in China.
“In the Chinese Mainland, foot traffic has improved significantly and retail sales have exceeded pre-pandemic levels for most of our malls since pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. Our office portfolio has proven to be resilient despite a weak office market,” Tim Blackburn, Swire’s chief executive, said in the report.
Looking ahead, the company expects 2024 will be a “year of stabilization” in retail demand.
Investors always pay close attention to bonds, and what the latest movement in prices and yields is saying about the economy. Right now, the action is telling investors to stick to the shorter-end of the fixed-income market with their maturities.
“There’s lots of concern and volatility, but on the short and middle end, we’re seeing less volatility and stable yields,” Joanna Gallegos, CEO and founder of bond ETF company BondBloxx, said on CNBC’s “ETF Edge.”
The 3-month T-Bill right now is paying above 4.3%, annualized. The two-year is paying 3.9% while the 10-year is offering about 4.4%.
ETF flows in 2025 show that it’s the ultrashort opportunity that is attracting the most investors. The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) and SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 T-Bill ETF (BIL) are both among the top 10 ETFs in investor flows this year, taking in over $25 billion in assets. Only Vanguard Group’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO) has taken in more new money from investors this year than SGOV, according to ETFAction.com data. Vanguard’s Short Term Bond ETF (BSV) is not far behind, with over $4 billion in flows this year, placing with the top 20 among all ETFs in year-to-date flows.
“Long duration just doesn’t work right now” said Todd Sohn, senior ETF and technical strategist at Strategas Securities, on “ETF Edge.”
Long-term treasuries and long-term corporate bonds have posted negative performance since September, which is very rare, according to Sohn. “The only other time that’s happened in modern times was during the financial crisis,” he said. “It is hard to argue against short term duration bonds right now,” he added.
Sohn is advising clients to steer clear of anything with a duration of longer than seven years, which has a yield in the 4.1% range right now.
Gallegos says she is concerned that amid the bond market volatility, investors aren’t paying enough attention to fixed income as part of their portfolio mix. “My fear is investors are not diversifying their portfolios with bonds today, and investors still have an equity addiction to concentrated broad-based indexes that are overweight certain tech names. They get used to these double-digit returns,” she said.
Volatility in the stock market has been high this year as well. The S&P 500 rose to record levels in February, before falling 20%, hitting a low in April, and then reversing all of those losses more recently. While bonds are an important component of long-term investing to shield a portfolio from stock corrections, Sohn said now is also a time for investors to look beyond the United States with their equity positions.
“International equities are contributing to portfolios like they haven’t done in a decade” he said. “Last year was Japanese equities, this year it is European equities. Investors don’t have to be loaded up on U.S. large cap growth right now,” he said.
The iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF (EZU) is up 25% so far this year. The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) Japan ETF is up 25% over the last two years.
Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi in the last week reported record net profit for a second-straight quarter, bolstering several analysts’ conviction on the Hong Kong-listed stock. In absolute dollar terms, Xiaomi’s earnings are still a fraction of Apple’s . But the Chinese company has a larger smartphone market share in China , and has built an electric vehicle business, while the iPhone maker dropped its car plans . Apple in recent months has also come under pressure from the Trump administration over its overseas supply chain. Apple shares are down 20% year-to-date to around $200. Xiaomi’s have gained more than 45% to 50.95 Hong Kong dollars ($6.50) a share. Following Xiaomi’s earnings report on May 27, Jefferies analysts raised their price target to 73 HKD, up from 69.50 HKD previously — for upside of 43% from Friday’s close. The analysts attributed the company’s earnings beat to outperformance in “AIoT.” The category refers to Xiaomi’s appliances, which incorporate artificial intelligence functions and can be controlled remotely over the internet using an app. Xiaomi’s adjusted net income for the first quarter was 10.68 billion yuan ($1.48 billion), beating the expected 9.48 billion yuan, according to a FactSet analyst poll. Revenue of 111.29 billion yuan also came in above the 108.49 billion yuan predicted by the poll. In smartphones, Xiaomi has become more conservative about the global outlook, but the Jefferies analysts pointed out the company will likely continue to gain market share in the high-end China market with its new Xring O1 chip. Xiaomi officially revealed the chip on May 22 and said it would power its new 15S Pro smartphone, which sells for far less than Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro in China. CEO Lei Jun claimed at the event that Xiaomi’s Xring O1 Apple’s A18 Pro on several metrics, including the ability to operate a game with less heat. Smartphones account for just under 40% of Xiaomi’s revenue. Appliances and other products make up nearly 22%. “We believe appliances represent major upside in the next two years, but [Xiaomi’s electric SUV] YU7 sales will be [the] key [short-term] catalyst,” the Jefferies analysts said. Xiaomi revealed its YU7 SUV at the same May 22 event. While the company didn’t announce a price, it said an official launch would be held in July and that the new car would come with a longer driving range than rival Tesla’s Model Y. “We believe the launch of YU7, scheduled for July 2025, will likely be the most important catalyst for Xiaomi this year,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a May 27 report. They expect the SUV can garner a higher price point than Xiaomi’s SU7 electric sedan that hit the market last year. “If sales volume is strong, it could help Xiaomi achieve higher ASPs, better margins, and ongoing earnings growth,” the Morgan Stanley analysts said. They rate Xiaomi overweight and have a price target of 62 HKD. In addition to the YU7 release this summer, several analysts said they are looking forward to Xiaomi’s investor day, scheduled for June 3. Those are both potential positive catalysts, Macquarie said. “We believe Xiaomi is a beneficiary of rising EV demand, changing consumer behavior, and industry consolidation in China.” “The company is widening its core business product offerings, expanding overseas and controlling [operating expenses] to drive profitability,” the report said. Macquarie rates the stock outperform, with a price target of 69.32 HKD. JPMorgan analysts kept their neutral rating, however, as they said Xiaomi’s ecosystem-related revenue growth was the slowest among major categories — not supportive of a high valuation in their view. They cautioned that while Apple was able to gain value once services started driving growth instead of hardware, Xiaomi has seen accelerating hardware growth while services has grown more slowly. Their price target is 60 HKD, still about 18% above where the stock closed Friday. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.