The Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 14, the China Index Research Institute released the ranking of the size of housing rental enterprises in China for September 2026. In September 2026, the housing rental market gradually entered a low season. The popularity of rental demand in key cities declined, and average residential rents in 50 cities fell slightly month-on-month. According to the China Index 50 City Residential Rental Price Index, the average residential rent in the country's 50 cities was 33.97 yuan/square meter/month, down 0.17% month-on-month. August was up 0.03% month-on-month; the year-on-year decline was 2.23%; the year-on-year decline was 0.22 percentage points narrower than in August.
Enterprise pattern
1. Scale ranking
Judging from the opening scale list, according to statistics from the China Index Research Institute, in September 2026, the total number of properties opened by TOP30 centralized long-term rental apartment companies was 1.495 million, an increase of 19,000 units over August. Specifically, the scale of operations of local state-owned enterprises has been steadily expanding, accounting for 30% of the TOP30.
Judging from the management scale list, according to statistics from the China Index Research Institute, in September 2026, the TOP30 centralized long-term rental apartment companies managed a total of 2.03 million units, an increase of 60,000 units over August.
2. Company News
2.1 Construction and operation
In September, local state-owned enterprises continued to promote the construction and operation of rental housing such as guaranteed housing, talent apartments, etc., such as Hengtai Xingyu Jiangyun Four Seasons Apartment, Wuhan Hanyue Apartment · Kaide Xiyuan Second Store, Ningbo Chengtou Orange House · Nan'an Community, and Ningchao Apartment Sanliting Branch. Among them, Hengtai Xingyu Jiangyun Four Seasons Apartment is the fourth market-based centralized rental living community under Hengtai, providing 2,157 rental housing units. Furthermore, the first “industrial reform insurance” dormitory-type housing Xinling Tower project in Longhua District of Shenzhen was also fully capped this month.
Table: Construction and operation trends of local state-owned enterprises and long-term rental enterprises in September 2026
Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute
In September, market-based long-term rental apartment operators also entered the market with several projects, and products and business formats continued to be rich. For example, Jindi Strawberry Community Yangpu Binjiang Store and Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Store have successively entered the market. Among them, the Shenzhen International Exhibition Store is the first large-scale rental community for the Jindi Strawberry Community in Shenzhen, providing 2,650 properties. Meanwhile, in the central area of Shanghai, Lin Yu opened three stores in the central area of Shanghai: Daning Pomelo House, Xiaomuqiao Pomelo House, and Caoxi Road Yumi Community, further increasing the density of the core city layout. In addition, the Weilongqian Hongqiao National Exhibition Youth Community was officially opened, with a total construction area of nearly 210,000 square meters. This is currently the largest guaranteed housing project in Weilong.
Table: Construction and operation trends of market-based long-term rental operators in September 2026
Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute
2.2 Business development
In September, housing rental companies expanded their business footprint through commissioned operation and brand cooperation. For example, Lehu Group won the bid for the Beijing Changping Tiantong Zhongyuan District 3 Talent Rental Housing Project; Linyu International won the bid for the Chongqing Haixia Road TOD Guaranteed Housing Contract Operation and Management Project, with an estimated number of 1,228 units; Yuexiu Xingyu signed the Guangzhou Airport Yueju Yunyi Garden Project to manage 684 housing units, totaling 2,344 units; Hangzhou Anju Ningchao and Taizhou Bay New Area Juxing Park Operating Company signed a framework agreement on the cooperative operation of housing rental business in Taizhou Bay New Area, etc.
Table: Business development trends of housing rental companies in September 2026
Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute
2.3 Brand building
In September, Poly Hewoo released a new brand proposition, “Good Living and Apartment”, launched three types of differentiated products: Safe Sleep, Storage Magic, and TA Exclusive Pet, and proposed a 5×5 matrix service system to accurately cover the entire rental cycle; the official website of Yitang Service Apartment, a subsidiary of China Merchants Shekou, was launched to focus on displaying brand and product information; Longhu Guanyu announced that its fifth-generation product 5.0 has been finalized, and stores using the new standards are scheduled to open within the year.
Table: Brand Building Trends for Housing Rental Companies in September 2026
Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute
2.4 Financing trends
In terms of public REITs, Cathay Pacific Haitong China Construction Rental Housing REIT and CICC Hangzhou Anju Ningchao REIT Fund contracts have entered into force one after another; Cathay Pacific Haitong Shangshi Rental Housing REIT was officially declared and accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, with a total of 1,205 billion yuan of funds to be sold. Meanwhile, Huitianfu Shanghai Real Estate's REIT expansion application was accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The total valuation of the Jingyao and Jingbo projects was about 3,721 billion yuan.
In terms of private equity, Yuyuejia ABS, a subsidiary of Chongqing City Investment, was accepted by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, with a filing scale of 1 billion yuan; Shenzhen Anju Group's 2 billion yuan private equity corporate bond project was reviewed and approved by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
In terms of credit support, the Mohan-Moding Economic Cooperation Zone in Laos, China has launched a 51 million yuan housing rental group housing purchase loan to support the acquisition of more than 200 apartments that have already been built and not sold in the cooperative zone and converted into guaranteed housing.
Table: Housing rental market financing situation in September 2026
Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute
Policy trends
1. Housing rental market guidance and support policy
1.1 Central level: Further clarify the “combine rental and purchase” housing system, and emphasize “construction as needed” to ensure accurate supply
On September 18, the Information Office of the State Council held a press conference on the high-quality development of urban and rural housing construction. The conference clearly proposed “improving the housing system with multi-agent supply, multi-channel guarantee, and rental and purchase”, further establishing the basic position of rental housing in the housing supply system. At the same time, the conference clarified “further improving the housing security system based on rental guaranteed housing and allotted guaranteed housing, adhering to the combination of rental subsidies and physical security to promote cities above prefectural level and counties that are in a position to do so to improve the housing security queue”, and for new citizens, young people and other groups, adhering to the guarantee path of “allocating, allocating, allocating”, providing institutional support for the accurate supply of guaranteed housing, reducing misallocation and idle resources; the combination of rental subsidies and physical security will also drive Rental demand continues to expand, laying the demand foundation for the long-term development of the industry.
1.2 Local level: Policies to revitalize existing assets and increase rental supply continue to gain strength, and support for young people to settle down is steadily increasing
In terms of standardized management, Chengdu requires housing rental enterprises to implement “opening report+capital supervision” two-line closed-loop management, requires enterprises to establish a unique dedicated account for rental supervision, and makes it clear that in principle, enterprises collect rent for no more than 3 months at a time.
In terms of multi-channel fund-raising, Henan and Hubei respectively encourage the acquisition of existing commercial housing and second-hand housing for use as affordable housing and talent housing; Jiangsu supports the revitalization of existing resources such as old factories, old campuses, and inefficient buildings to classify and build diverse youth communities in urban core areas, industrial parks, etc.; at the same time, Jiangsu has established a financial support system to support colleges and universities to comprehensively allocate student dormitory resources through “reform, rent, purchase, construction, and transfer”; Xining publicly solicits affordable rental housing intentions to implement projects. Fundraising category.
In terms of provident fund support, Xi'an raised the amount of deposit amount for rental housing and lifted the limit that depositors can only withdraw from one housing consumer application per year; Wuhan plans to specify that workers without housing can withdraw an unlimited number of times. Among them, single workers can withdraw 18,000 yuan per year, married workers and spouses can withdraw 36,000 yuan, and the withdrawal limit for certified talents in China has been increased by 3 times.
In terms of talent housing support, Beijing launched the “Beijing Youth Talent Apartment Online Service Platform”. Eligible young people can enjoy 25% off the market price rent discount; Shanghai requires youth groups such as newly employed college students to strengthen special support for inclusive youth housing; Jiangsu supports increasing the number and number of free stays at youth posts; Guangxi grants housing rental allowances to college graduates within 2 years of graduation. The basic subsidy is approved at 50% of the actual 3-month rent. If eligible, they can also enjoy corresponding subsidies in addition.
Table: Housing rental market guidance and support policies introduced locally in September 2026
Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute
2. Rental housing supply
Shanghai: By 2030, 250,000 to 270,000 new affordable rental housing units (units) will be added, and additional funding will be raised to supply more than 120,000 beds in the homes of urban builders and managers in the new era.
Wuhan: Since 2024, a total of 38 commercial housing projects have been acquired for affordable rental housing, about 1 million square meters, with 2,3006 housing units (units). In 2026, it will continue to guide state-owned enterprise platforms such as Secure Home and Settle Home to step up their acquisition efforts, and no less than 6,000 units (rooms) will be purchased throughout the year.
Huizhou: In 2026, it is planned to build 4,457 new affordable rental housing units. The projects are distributed in Boluo County, Longmen County, Daya Bay Development Zone and Zhongkai High-tech Zone; the plan is to allocate 1,744 affordable rental housing units, with Huicheng District, Huidong County, Boluo County and Daya Bay Development Zone as the main housing supply areas.
Market operation
1. Overall rent: In September, the average residential rent in 50 cities fell 0.17% month-on-month and 2.23% year-on-year
In September 2026, the housing rental market gradually entered a low season. The popularity of rental demand in key cities declined, and average residential rents in 50 cities fell slightly month-on-month. According to the China Index 50 City Residential Rental Price Index, the average residential rent in the country's 50 cities was 33.97 yuan/square meter/month, down 0.17% month-on-month. August was up 0.03% month-on-month; the year-on-year decline was 2.23%; the year-on-year decline was 0.22 percentage points narrower than in August.
Figure: Average residential rent and month-on-month rise and fall in 50 cities from January 2022 to September 2026
Data source: China Index Data CREIS · Rental Edition
2. Rents in key cities: rent increases in core cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen have narrowed month-on-month
In September 2026, the number of cities where average residential rents rose month-on-month was 9, 6 fewer than in August. Specifically, Shanghai had the biggest month-on-month increase of 0.52%; 4 cities, including Dongguan and Suzhou, rose between 0.1% and 0.2%; and 4 cities, including Shenzhen and Wuxi, rose within 0.1%. In September, the average residential rents in the two cities of Jiaxing and Zhengzhou remained flat month-on-month, and the number increased by 1 compared to August.
In September 2026, the number of cities where average residential rents fell month-on-month was 39, an increase of 5 over August. Specifically, 6 cities, including Xi'an and Beijing, had a month-on-month decline of 0.5% or more, with Xi'an having the biggest decline of 0.78%; 13 cities including Sanya and Changsha fell between 0.3% (inclusive) -0.5%; 18 cities, including Hohhot and Nanjing, fell between 0.1% and 0.3%; and 2 cities, Jinan and Beihai, fell within 0.1%.
Figure: Average residential rent and month-on-month rise and fall in 50 cities in September 2026
Data source: China Index Data CREIS · Rental Edition
Points of interest
Residential rents in 50 cities fell slightly month-on-month in September, and rents in Shanghai continued to lead the way
In September, as the peak rental demand subsided during the graduation season, the popularity of the national housing rental market gradually fell back to a normalized level, and average residential rents in 50 cities rebounded slightly for three consecutive months. According to the China Index of Housing Rental Prices in 50 Cities, in September, the average residential rent in the 50 cities fell 0.17% month-on-month; it fell 2.23% year on year. The decline continued to narrow and has narrowed to the lowest level in nearly 25 months. The signs that residential rents are bottoming out and stabilizing in key cities tend to be clear.
Looking at each echelon, average residential rents in all tier cities fell month-on-month in September. According to monitoring by the Central Index Institute, in September, the average rent for ordinary housing in first-tier cities fell 0.03% month-on-month, ending the previous six-month continuous month-on-month rise; average rents in second-tier cities fell 0.25% month-on-month, an increase of 0.16 percentage points over August; and average rents in third- and fourth-tier cities fell 0.15% month-on-month.
Table: Performance of 50 top 20 cities with residential rents in September 2026
Data source: Middle Index Data CREIS
Judging from the performance of specific cities, as of September, residential rents in Shanghai and Shenzhen had been rising for 7 consecutive months. Among them, Shanghai ranked first among the 50 cities for 6 consecutive months; Suzhou had been rising for 5 consecutive months; however, the month-on-month increases in all three cities declined somewhat in September. Furthermore, residential rents in Hangzhou ended three months of continuous month-on-month rise and fell in September; after rents in Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Chengdu turned down in August, the month-on-month decline widened further in September, and residential rent support in key cities weakened after the peak rental season declined.
2. In September, the public offering of public rental housing REITs was launched and the expansion process accelerated, and the “investment, finance, construction and management withdrawal” closed loop accelerated the formation
In September, a number of bonded housing public REITs made breakthrough progress. On September 14, Cathay Pacific Haitong China Construction Rental Housing REIT went public sale, and the fund contract came into effect on the 20th; on September 4, CICC Hangzhou Anju Ningchao REIT received registration approval from the Securities Regulatory Commission, officially went on sale on the 22nd, and the fund contract came into effect on the 30th. The underlying assets of both REITs are mature projects that have been newly built for rental housing and have been incorporated into the guaranteed housing system. In line with the 9 bonded housing REITs that have already been listed, the original equity holders all had a central enterprise or local state-owned enterprise background, and the underlying assets were all high-quality guaranteed housing or public rental housing projects in first-tier and core second-tier cities. Furthermore, on September 10, the Shangshi Rental Housing REIT was officially declared and accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on September 16; the original shareholder was Shangshi Chengkai, and the underlying asset was Chengkai Qianjihui Community, which was the first Rr4 land tenancy project in Xuhui District of Shanghai.
Table: Basic information on Cathay Pacific Haitong China Construction Rental Housing REIT and CICC Hangzhou Anju Ningchao REIT
Source: Fund recruitment brochures, sale announcements, comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute
At the same time, the expansion of public REITs for bonded housing is progressing steadily. On September 10, Huitianfu Shanghai Real Estate Rental Housing REIT was recommended by the National Development and Reform Commission. On September 28, it officially submitted a product change registration application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, submitted a product change and share listing application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and was accepted by the Securities Regulatory Commission and the Shanghai Stock Exchange on September 30. From the time the fund was recommended by the National Development and Reform Commission to completing the application, it only took 18 days, and the pace of progress was relatively fast. The fund's proposed expansion projects are two guaranteed housing projects in the Shanghai Pudong New Area World Expo Area — the Jingyao Project and the Jingbo Project. Both are new rental communities built on rental housing land, and will be put into operation in 2022.
Currently, with policy support, the closed loop of “investment, finance, construction and management” commercial withdrawal of rental housing in China has basically been completed, and the issuance of public REITs is gradually normalized. As rental communities built with large-scale supply of rental housing land in the early stages enter a steady stage of operation, the pace of launch and expansion of public rental housing REITs is expected to further accelerate.