China's major cities are likely to see a moderate pickup in home purchases during the traditional high season in March and April, building on momentum generated during the recently concluded Spring Festival holiday, industry insiders and analysts said.

Analysts also expect policymakers to roll out more supportive measures to buoy the confidence of homebuyers and developers during the upcoming two sessions, the annual meetings of China's top legislature and the top political advisory body, set to start in Beijing this week.

Throughout the record-long holiday, various developers across the country adopted "business as usual" operations, launching promotional campaigns to attract potential buyers and build a pipeline for the post-festival season.

In Guangzhou, Guangdong province, more than 200 property projects kept their sales offices open during the holiday, rolling out incentives like home appliances and property management fee waivers, according to real estate agency Centaline Property.

The incentives appear to have paid dividends. Poly Developments and Holdings Group's project in Guangzhou's Pazhou district received 28 groups of visitors during the holiday period, according to the property developer.

The project secured five sales during the holiday period, with total transaction value exceeding 55 million yuan ($8 million), and purchasers typically moved from initial viewing to down payment within 10 days — a compression from the usual monthlong deliberation cycle, the firm said.

A new "reverse" Spring Festival trend, where young people bring their parents to their workplace like Beijing and Shanghai for the reunion rather than traveling back to their hometowns, has accelerated home-purchase decisions as families conduct joint viewings and reach consensus during the extended break, said Xiao Xiaoping, director of the Beike Research Institute.

According to data from the China Index Academy, 21 key cities recorded 100,000 square meters of new home sales during the Feb 15-23 holiday period, with average daily transaction volumes essentially flat compared with last year's Spring Festival.

Shanghai led the pack with 13,600 square meters in new home sales, benefiting from preholiday policy support and sustained developer promotions. Beijing's core districts maintained steady activity, with quality projects attracting continued interest.

In second-tier cities, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Suzhou in Jiangsu province, and Ningbo in Zhejiang province intensified promotional efforts during the holiday, driving increased visits to upgrade-oriented projects.

In face of the two sessions, market attention is sharpening on how the government will outline its strategy to stabilize the real estate sector, with expectations building for clarity on fiscal support, financing mechanisms for unsold commercial housing acquisitions and reform of the housing provident fund system.

A commentary published in the first 2026 issue of Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has underscored the urgency of the moment, stressing that real estate policies must be introduced in "a decisive and comprehensive manner", rather than employing a piecemeal "drip drip" rollout.

"Currently, homebuyers' wait-and-see sentiment persists," said Li Yujia, chief researcher at the residential policy research center of the Guangdong Planning Institute. "Their core requirements are price security and delivery certainty, with particular attention to the attributes of asset preservation."

For the property market, where expectations play an outsize role in determining outcomes, clear and coordinated signaling carries particular weight. The two sessions offer an opportunity to reset expectations and demonstrate that authorities possess both the tools and the will to guide the sector toward stability, Li added.

Last week, Shanghai eased its homebuying rules further, allowing nonresident individuals who have paid social security or individual tax for a year to purchase homes in urban areas. Previous rules required non-local residents to pay taxes for at least three years.

Meanwhile, nonresident individuals who have paid taxes for three years or more can buy one extra home in urban areas, in addition to the existing housing purchase restriction policy.

"Shanghai's property market is at a critical inflection point, moving toward bottoming out and stabilization," said Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China R&D Institute.

This would likely create a positive ripple effect, helping to anchor expectations and guide sentiment in smaller cities facing greater market pressure, Yan added.

The combination of sustained policy support, developer marketing efforts and accumulated household demand appears positioned to support a gradual uptick in transaction activity across China's major urban housing market during the traditional peak season, Yan said.