In Many Cities, Bigger Homes Are Becoming Easier to Sell Than Ever

I recently revisited some pieces I wrote in the past.
Reading them again today, they carry a very different weight.

Not long ago, we published an article about small three-bedroom units struggling to sell. The top comment said bluntly: the golden age of real estate is over.

But if you ask me, a more accurate way to put it is this: housing demand hasn’t disappeared—it has transformed.

When this shift in demand plays out in the market, countless signals ultimately converge into one clear message:

The larger the home, the better it sells.

This trend is most pronounced in the primary (new-home) market, and the data already backs it up.

According to reports from China Index Academy, in 20 out of 30 major cities nationwide, transaction volumes for large-sized units are rising. We use 144 square meters as the threshold—anything above that counts as a large unit.

In 11 of those cities, large units already account for more than 20% of total transactions.

In other words, in over one-third of major cities, the market is reflecting this reality every single day.

Data source: China Index Academy
Large homes have undeniably become the defining theme of today’s primary market.

And have you noticed something even more interesting?

In cities like Changsha, Hangzhou, and Hefei, large-sized new homes are actually selling better than in Shanghai.

When I visited Hangzhou and Nanjing and spoke with frontline sales teams, what they described aligned perfectly with what the data shows today.

That’s why this topic is worth revisiting—right here, right now.

This year, it’s no longer just about 144 square meters. In many cities, there is virtually no upper limit on unit size in new-home transactions.

Large units selling well is no longer news. What’s new is how aggressively developers are pushing size boundaries.

High-rise and mid-rise projects alike are moving in one direction: bigger, and even bigger.

Shanghai is a prime example.

How big are we talking?

Look at the highlighted figures.

Information source: Public online data, for reference only
Units ranging from 200 to over 400 square meters—at Shanghai One Mansion—are configured as just three-bedroom homes. That already exceeds what the market traditionally associates with a three-bedroom layout.

In Phase Three this year, five-bedroom units have reached a staggering 1,010 square meters.

To put that into perspective: before the Lunar New Year, Luxiang Garden’s “sky mansions” were considered huge at 882 square meters. Just months later, the skyline has been rewritten.

What’s more astonishing is that these almost exaggeratedly large homes are selling better and better.

Sky-high subscription ratios tell the story.

Data source: New Home Lottery Assistant, as of April 4, 17:00
Take Jinling Huating inside Shanghai’s inner ring. Its first phase launched with a starting unit of 270 square meters—a four-bedroom priced at RMB 189,000 per square meter.

The result?
158 units attracted over 310 qualified buyers—nearly two people competing for each home.

Even more striking, projects like PuKai Cloud Residences between the inner and middle ring roads reached subscription ratios close to 300%, largely because their layouts pushed size and scale to the extreme.

Phase Four offers 152-square-meter four-bedroom units with five south-facing bays and a frontage of 16.45 meters.

It’s not just about being big—it’s about being big everywhere. Unsurprisingly, every launch has seen fierce demand.

Many of these large units barely even need mainstream agency channels. They simply don’t worry about selling.

And outside Shanghai, the trend is even more dramatic.

Not only are large units selling better, their sizes are expanding rapidly.

According to China Index data, this spring large units accounted for 33% of transactions in Changsha—the highest among over 20 cities surveyed.

Hefei ranked second, with large units making up 28%.

Data source: China Index Academy
Hangzhou, a familiar name to many of us, recorded a proportion nearly double Shanghai’s 15%.

In Hefei’s core districts, large units now typically start at 140 square meters, with plenty of 200- to 300-square-meter offerings.

Over the past three years, the share of large units has continued to rise.

Data source: World Union Properties
By the first half of last year, units above 160 square meters already accounted for 14% more of Hefei’s supply.

Projects like Gaosu Properties’ Yipin Senjing focus almost entirely on 225–229 square meters, while projects like China Merchants’ Xi series range from 200 to 320 square meters—essentially all high-end large flats.

Even second-tier cities that didn’t make the main rankings, such as Foshan, show the same pattern.

Over the past three years, large-unit transaction trends there have followed the same trajectory.

According to Foshan real estate statistics, more than 1,680 new homes above 200 square meters were sold last year alone.

Even ultra-large units around 500 square meters saw close to 50 transactions.

And then there’s Hangzhou, where large flats have become intensely competitive.

There, 300–500 square meters is considered ordinary. Top-tier projects like Guan Yun Qiantang push sizes to 600 square meters, with the largest duplex reaching an astonishing 1,258 square meters.

Clearly, buyers in second- and third-tier cities have a far stronger appetite for space than we might have imagined.

What’s even more surprising is that these homes aren’t just selling well—they’re selling at higher prices.

We previously noted that large units in Shanghai tend to command a premium within the same development, though typically only by RMB 10,000–20,000 per square meter.

Nationally, however, the gap is far wider.

The contrast between small and large units is especially stark in Hangzhou.

On one side, average prices in main urban areas hover around RMB 40,000 per square meter, rising to RMB 60,000 in core zones like Qianjiang New City and Shenhua.

On the other side, new large units keep pushing price ceilings.

In early 2024, prices were still around RMB 40,000.

Background image source: Large Flat Research Institute
By March, prices had broken through RMB 60,000 and were surging toward RMB 70,000.

Several flagship large-unit projects entered the market at high price points from day one.

Even price-controlled projects like Yulan Yuehua, at RMB 67,500 per square meter for furnished units, sit firmly in the upper tier.

Jinxiu Mansion reached RMB 85,432 per square meter—rare by any standard.

The most extreme example, Guan Yun Qiantang, has climbed from RMB 50,000+ at launch five years ago to over RMB 100,000 today.

In 2021, a single unit even achieved RMB 120,000–150,000 per square meter, placing it squarely among Hangzhou’s top luxury residences.

You might think Hangzhou is a special case—a city riding a traffic and capital wave.

But what truly surprised me was seeing the same phenomenon even in county-level cities.

Over the past two years, our team has visited Yiwu multiple times. The primary market there is now as lively as Shanghai’s—and prices are genuinely shocking.

Data source: Xiaoruo Housing, for reference only
Yes, this is the real strength of “World Yiwu.”

Large new homes there are priced on par with first-tier cities, even pushing Hangzhou aside.

For Yiwu buyers, purchasing homes worth tens of millions feels as effortless as buying bottled water—and the largest units are fiercely contested.

Data source: Public online data, for reference only
At Badu Wanjing Guan Yun, where prices surpassed RMB 70,000 per square meter, townhouses sold out in just 18 seconds.

Greentown Phoenix Tide, priced at RMB 60,000 per square meter, achieved over RMB 6 billion in sales within six months, becoming Jinhua’s top-selling project of 2024.

These sought-after homes typically range from RMB 15–35 million in total price, with peak unit prices nearing RMB 90,000—comparable to many inner-ring luxury homes in Shanghai.

So why are large new homes so popular?

Looking at the national picture, one truth becomes clear.

Although supply has been increasing since 2024, the preceding years were fundamentally a period of under-supply.

CRIC data shows that over the past five years around 2020, large flats above 200 square meters were consistently in short supply.

I selected five representative cities for comparison.

Data source: CRIC and public information, for reference only
When the supply-to-sales ratio falls below 1, it indicates undersupply.

In Beijing, the ratio was just 0.57.

Shanghai wasn’t much higher at around 0.6.

Over the past five years, Shanghai supplied more than 320,000 new homes excluding villas.

Data source: Online Real Estate
Yet before 2024, homes above 195 square meters accounted for less than 3% of supply.

In Chengdu, 2,148 units above 200 square meters were supplied in 2021—but 2,589 were sold.

In Shenzhen, the share of such units fell from 2.94% in 2016 to just 1.86% by mid-2024.

Scarcity, quite simply, is real.

At the same time, the buyer profile has evolved, with higher expectations for large homes.

One group is affluent singles. Even living alone, many now demand far more space than before.

Projects like Zhongxing Road No.1, where 100 square meters was designed as a one-bedroom, are classic examples.

Then there are family buyers.

During a recent survey at Guan Yun Qiantang in Hangzhou, more than half of potential buyers were families with two or three children.

Among multi-child households, 73% were upgrading for the second time.

Data source: Guan Yun
For these buyers, space is a rigid requirement—sometimes accommodating three generations under one roof.

For them, ultra-large homes of 300 or even 500 square meters become the most practical choice.

Data source: Guan Yun
And for many, large homes also serve another purpose: investment.

It’s now widely accepted that the larger the unit, the more resilient it is to price declines.

Take Shenzhen’s Greenview Mansion 1866.

In 2016, transaction prices were RMB 80,000–90,000 per square meter, with 160-square-meter units just breaking RMB 100,000.

Over the past three years, prices stabilized around RMB 80,000. Even after corrections, a 10% drop over three years in Shenzhen is considered remarkably strong.

More importantly, prices rebounded quickly in early 2025, returning to RMB 90,000.

Today, large units are quoted at firm floor prices with little room for negotiation.

Shanghai shows the same pattern: large units rise the most and fall the least.

Simply put, large homes have won this cycle decisively.

At a deeper level, the living experience they offer is fundamentally different.

Take the 350-square-meter four-bedroom unit at Shanghai One Mansion.

Once the area expands, the horizontal living space opens up dramatically.

With nearly 100 square meters for the living and dining area, hosting a house party becomes effortless.

Some layouts even reserve space purely for emotional or experiential value.

In Chengdu’s Puyi Jinjiang 235-square-meter unit, the master bedroom becomes a private emotional sanctuary.

You pass through a cross-shaped walk-in closet—ceremonial and immersive.

Behind it lies a minibar. Change into loungewear, mix a drink, and unwind alone or with a partner.

Rational architecture, executed with emotional precision.

Because these homes are large, some space can even be “wasted.”

At Guan Yun’s 1,258-square-meter penthouse, the best river-view level dedicates its center to a spiral staircase—not out of necessity, but to evoke a sense of grandeur.

Size makes all of this possible.

Let’s return to the beginning.

Just days ago, we were discussing how small units are being sidelined. Today’s data shows large homes taking center stage—and doing so emphatically.

Together, these trends paint a clearer picture.

Small units face crowding, oversupply, and compromised layouts, dulling their appeal.

At the same time, strong transaction data for large units reflects the powerful rise of upgrade demand.

The future may look something like this:

Single buyers opt for small units—or rent.

Families move directly into large homes, seizing what remains a relatively cost-effective window to buy bigger and settle in for the long term.

As one Hangzhou agent told me, four-bedroom units in core communities simply aren’t enough to meet demand.

Behind this surge in large homes isn’t just investment logic—but a vision for living ten, twenty, even thirty years ahead.

Ultimately, whether one chooses a small or large home, each product reflects the values of its time.

And the future of how we live is already coming into focus.