China Index Research Institute: TOP30 long-term rental apartment companies opened 1.471 million properties in July, and the number of managed properties exceeded 2 million

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to statistics from the China Index Research Institute, in July 2026, the total number of properties opened by TOP30 centralized long-term rental apartment companies was 1.471 million, an increase of 23,000 units over June. Specifically, there has been a steady increase in the scale of local state-owned enterprises, and their share in the TOP30 has increased to 30%. Judging from the management scale list, according to statistics from the China Index Research Institute, in July 2026, TOP30 centralized long-term rental apartment companies managed a total of 2.05 million units, an increase of 12,000 units over June.

2. Company News

2.1 Construction and operation

In July, a number of guaranteed housing and talent apartment projects raised and built by local state-owned enterprises were put into operation, such as Shanghai Beiyang Zhihui Community, Wuhan Anjialewu Guanggu Plaza Store, Wuhan Metro Fuxing City Rental Housing Project, Shanghai Fengfa Youyanxuan Rental Housing Project, etc. Among them, the Wuhan Anjiale Optics Valley Plaza Store is currently the largest store under Anchorage, with a total of 890 apartments launched. At the same time, new progress has been made in brand outreach in some regions. Hanyue Apartment Haikou Binhai No.1 opened, making Hanyue Apartment's first location in Haikou, Wuhan, and the first store of the new Huangpu Dream City in Beijing, the Changping Silicon Valley SOHO store, also commenced trial operation.

Table: Construction and operation trends of local state-owned enterprises and long-term rental enterprises in July 2026

Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute

In July, market-based long-term rental apartment operators continued to push for projects to enter the market, such as Poly Heyu Hengqin Phase II, Hangzhou One Apartment · Gushang Park, Fangyu Apartment Shanghai Longbai Branch, etc. Among them, Hangzhou One Apartment · Gushang Park was renovated as an idle factory building, and a total of 185 apartments were launched.

Table: Construction and operation trends of market-based long-term rental operators in July 2026

Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute

2.2 Business development

In July, cooperation in the field of housing rental continued to deepen. For example, Dongshi Group and Songshan Lake Science City Group promoted the “research and housing” project in Songshan Lake; China Construction and Caiyu won the bid for the Guiyang Yunyan Industrial Park dormitory operation project for its first asset-light operation project; Anju Ningchao won a guaranteed land plot in Huli Jinshan at the reserve price; and Anju Ningchao reached cooperation with Hangzhou Wenguang Group and Linping Urban Construction respectively to jointly revitalize existing housing stocks.

Table: Business development trends of housing rental companies in July 2026

Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute

2.3 Financing trends

In July, the housing rental financial support system continued to improve. The launch and expansion of public REITs progressed in an orderly manner. Wuhan Settlement Housing Public Investment REITs completed the fund manager's tender and announcement of successful candidates. Bank of China Fund was the first successful candidate; China Airlines Beijing Changbao Rental Housing REIT disclosed expansion plans and plans to purchase 4 new guaranteed housing projects in Changping District.

Securitization products such as REITs and inter-agency REITs are progressing steadily. Beijing Changping Guaranteed Housing and Haidian Guaranteed Housing have successively initiated inter-agency REITs intermediary selection and recruitment; the Jianxin Housing Rental Fund's real estate asset support special plan (second to N expansion) was accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, with a total issuance of 50 billion yuan; the country's first green guaranteed housing REITs was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with an issuance scale of 3.65 billion yuan.

In terms of major transactions, China Resources Land acquired Suzhou Jinlin Apartment, a subsidiary of Suxin Services, for about 231 million yuan, targeting a total of 11 buildings and 1,598 rooms.

In terms of credit support, Hubei Province successfully issued the first batch of “self-audit and spontaneous” special bonds to buy existing commercial housing for use in affordable housing, involving 7 projects including Wuhan and Xiaochang, with a total scale of 677 million yuan.

Table: Housing rental market financing situation in July 2026

Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute

Policy trends

1. Housing rental market guidance and support policy

1.1 Central level: Housing leasing is included in the overall consumption expansion plan, and the top level sets the tone to guide the steady development of the housing rental market

On July 2, the State Council approved the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” to expand consumption. The plan proposes “optimizing the supply of affordable housing, increasing the supply of improved housing through urban policies, and standardizing the development of the housing rental market; implementing housing quality improvement projects to build safe, comfortable, green and intelligent 'good house', steadily promoting the renovation of urban villages, dilapidated houses and old urban neighborhoods, supporting residents' independent renewal, and supporting the aging renovation and intelligent upgrading of old houses.” The plan incorporates housing leasing into the overall plan for expanding consumption at the national level, marking the rise of housing leasing from a livelihood security issue to an important vehicle for expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption, continuing and strengthening the policy orientation of combining rental and purchase during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. Among them, the “good house” construction requirements will continue to promote the upgrading of the quality of rental housing; under the direction of “standardized development”, basic systems such as housing rental enterprise registration and filing, rent supervision, and rental standards will be improved at an accelerated pace; at the same time, the plan will coordinate housing consumption with the renovation of urban villages, dilapidated houses and old neighborhoods, further opening up space for housing rental. Overall, the plan anchors stable policy expectations for the medium- to long-term development of the housing rental market, which is conducive to promoting the development of the housing rental market in the direction of standardization, quality, and specialization.

On July 30, the CPC Central Committee held a Politburo meeting. Although the press release did not directly mention housing leasing, the relevant statement provided a clear policy signal for the housing rental market: on the one hand, the conference incorporated real estate into the “effective construction of a safe barrier” framework, highlighting the importance of stabilizing the real estate market. Housing leasing is a key part of the “combined rental and purchase” housing system, and stabilizing real estate policy will also create a more predictable system and market environment for it; on the other hand, the conference released a clear incremental policy signal. It is expected that fiscal expenditure will accelerate in the second half of the year, combined with the integration of monetary policy tools. It is expected that more financial support will be obtained for tasks such as application, financing and construction of guaranteed housing, and revitalizing existing housing stocks. In addition, many references to urban renewal were mentioned in the press release of the conference, such as “vigorously promoting 'dual' construction and 'two news' work”, etc. It is expected that more support policies will revolve around urban renewal in the future. As urban renewal progresses further, the housing rental market is expected to accelerate optimization and adjustment in housing supply, spatial layout and operating ecology, further embedding the urban stock quality improvement and people's livelihood security chain.

On July 31, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to review and pass the “Decision of the State Council on Amending the 'Regulations on the Administration of Housing Provident Funds' (Draft)”. The conference stated, “It is necessary to make better use of the function of housing provident funds, broaden the scope of withdrawal and use, expand the coverage of the system, improve the efficiency of management services, and better meet the diverse housing consumption needs of residents.” Earlier, on June 5, the Ministry of Housing and Construction issued the “Regulations on the Administration of Housing Provident Funds (Revised Draft for Comments)”, making adjustments in the linkage mechanism between rental withdrawal and loan, putting “rent payment” at the top of the ranking, simplifying the withdrawal conditions to “rent payment”, and at the same time making it clear that rental withdrawals do not affect the loan amount. This time, the National Standing Committee reviewed and approved the revised draft. It is expected that after the “Administrative Regulations” are officially released, the optimization and follow-up of local provident fund policies will accelerate, which is expected to further strengthen the support of the Provident Fund for renters.

1.2 Local level: Revitalize existing stocks and broaden rental housing financing channels, strengthen provident funds and housing security for talents

In terms of standardizing management, Chengdu clarifies rental standards for rental housing, requiring that non-residential space must not be rented separately for living; Xi'an is seeking comments on evaluation methods for the operation and management of guaranteed housing projects, and plans to evaluate the guaranteed housing projects every six months and disclose the results to the public.

In terms of multi-channel fund-raising, Chongqing and Shenyang encourage the revitalization of existing housing for leasing; Jinan supports the construction of commercial commercial land and the renovation of guaranteed housing, and it is clear that these projects should focus on areas with strong rental demand and convenient support, such as industrial clusters and commercial business clusters.

In terms of provident fund support, Changsha revised the three administrative measures on deposit, withdrawal, and loan from the Provident Fund to include workers in new business formats such as individual businesses, online car-hailing drivers, and couriers in the scope of deposit, and fully implemented the service of entrustment funds to withdraw rent directly on a monthly basis; Chengdu uniformly raised the monthly withdrawal amount of the Provident Fund to 1,800 yuan to increase the rental support for depositors.

In terms of housing support for talents, Xiamen upgraded the “50% off rent within 5 years” guarantee for young people such as newly employed college students, and relaxed the guarantee age to 35 to meet the transitive housing needs of this group by using a combination of physical rent allocation and rent subsidies; Shanghai launched a “newly employed youth housing service” to provide rent subsidies for eligible newly employed youth to reduce the pressure on young people to settle down in Shanghai.

Table: Housing rental market guidance and support policies introduced locally in July 2026

Source: Comprehensive compilation by the China Index Research Institute

2. Rental housing supply

Chongqing: During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, 25,000 new affordable rental housing units (units) were raised.

Beijing: In 2026, the first batch of guaranteed housing plans were built and 15 projects raised, involving more than 17,200 housing units (units), including 6 guaranteed housing projects, more than 3,500 units, 9 housing resettlement projects, and 13,700 housing units.

Market operation

1. Overall rent: In July, the average residential rent in 50 cities rose 0.13% month-on-month and decreased by 2.62% year-on-year

In July 2026, due to the continued release of rental demand during the graduation season, the average residential rent increase in the 50 cities increased 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 34.01 yuan/square meter/month, up 0.13% from the previous month, up 0.05 percentage points from June; the year-on-year decrease was 2.62%, and the decline was 0.20 percentage points narrower than in June.

Figure: Average residential rent and month-on-month rise and fall in 50 cities from November 2021 to May 2026

2. Rents in key cities: rents in core cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Suzhou continue to rise

In July 2026, the number of cities where average residential rents rose month-on-month was 24, an increase of 8 over June. Specifically, Shanghai had the biggest month-on-month increase of 0.73%; Beijing and Suzhou rose between 0.4%-0.5%; 15 cities including Xining and Kunming rose between 0.1% (inclusive) -0.3%; and 6 cities, including Hangzhou and Huizhou, rose within 0.1%. In July, the average residential rent in Guangzhou remained flat month-on-month, and the number was the same as in June.

In July 2026, the number of cities where average residential rents fell month-on-month was 25, 8 fewer than in June. Specifically, Shaoxing and Beihai saw the biggest month-on-month declines, 0.55% and 0.54% respectively; Sanya, Wenzhou, and Haikou fell between 0.4%-0.5%; 10 cities including Quanzhou and Changsha fell between 0.1% and 0.3%; and 10 cities, including Qingdao and Jinan, fell within 0.1%.

Figure: Average residential rent and month-on-month rise and fall in 50 cities in May 2026