STORY: China's property sector crisis is only expected to deepen this year

Property sales were seen slumping 24.5% in 2022

That's a far bigger drop than the 10% forecast in a Reuters survey of analysts and economists in May

The latest poll in September showed new home prices are expected to fall 1.4% this year

Homebuyers are still cautious as China's property sector has lurched from crisis to crisis since 2020

Quote: Daniel Zhou, analyst at Moody's

"Uncertainty over China's growth prospects and concerns about project incompletion will largely drive weak homebuyer demand over the next 6-12 months."

The property sector accounts for about a quarter of China's economy

And is now weighing on the country's overall outlook

Analysts say next year home prices will improve 2%

But sales will stay downbeat, falling 15% due to sluggish demand