In China, the property market slump has discouraged many buyers. Now, struggling developers have started taking payments for homes in form of watermelons, peaches and other agricultural produce, news agency AFP reported on Sunday citing the country’s state media. The news agency added that the developers are doing so in an attempt to lure buyers.
Official data shows that home sales in China measured by floor area have slid for 11 consecutive months and were down 31.5 per cent in May compared to the same month last year.
The housing market in China has been hit by a slowing economy and debt crisis caused by a government ban on builders taking deposits before construction begins on a project.
State-run China News Weekly reported that one developer in the eastern city of Nanjing said it would accept truckloads of watermelons worth up to 100,000 yuan as a down payment from local farmers.
Homebuilder Central China Management said on social media in late May: “On the occasion of the new garlic season, the company has made a resolute decision to benefit garlic farmers in Qi county. We are helping farmers with love, and making it easier for them to buy homes.”
AFP report mentioned that in the nearby small town of Wuxi, another developer was taking peaches as payment, the magazine said.
Homebuyers in Qi county, a major garlic-producing region in central China’s Henan province, can exchange their produce at three times the market price to settle part of their down payment.
Last week, a report by South China Morning Post revealed that farmers in Yuncheng in central China’s Shanxi province have harvested thousands of ripe watermelons during the June 2022 harvest season.
Some farmers only plant the produce once a decade in each farm field, just to ensure the quality of the fruit.
Some fruit sellers even travel from Beijing to make their purchases in Shanxi – a distance of some 800km.
The province’s Xiaxian county is one of the largest watermelon-producing areas in the country.
(With inputs from agencies)
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