Founder-CEO & Chief Analyst, Real Estate Foresight

Robert Ciemniak

Founder-CEO & Chief Analyst

Real Estate Foresight

Since 2012, REF has been helping investors with market research, project due diligence, and strategy development. This has ranged from detailed assessments and estimates on distressed developers' project portfolios to market due diligence on specific projects to macro-level questions linked to demand for commodities. The unique combination of the housing markets and developer data from data partner China Index Academy in Beijing, primary research, and technology-powered alternative data collection from public sources result in a valuable content set used in REF analytics and reports.

Predictive Analytics for China Property

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>In this note, we look at the latest May/June data, policy, and sentiment in China housing markets, with some reflections on where things are vs the expectations end of 2024. </li>
<li>"Less negative" summarises the data, while "Stabilise it" captures the policy approach.</li>
<li>New home sales are in line with our forecast, and in the upper range of group forecasts from China Property Outlook, but there are some new data caveats.</li>
</ul>


In this note, we look at the latest May/June data, policy, and sentiment in China housing markets, with some reflections on where things are vs the expectations end of 2024. 
"Less negative" summarises the data, while "Stabilise it" captures the policy approach.
New home sales are in line with our forecast, and in the upper range of group forecasts from China Property Outlook, but there are some new data caveats.


<ul>
<li>This note is a weekly (select weeks on SK) curated selection of Chinese news articles and company announcements focused on developers in distress</li>
<li>We look for their deals, updates, specific project progress news ('local signals'), as well as relevant local research commentaries about the market</li>
<li>We do not verify the underlying data or provide any opinion; we only select and summarise the information. See direct links to the sources</li>
</ul>


This note is a weekly (select weeks on SK) curated selection of Chinese news articles and company announcements focused on developers in distress
We look for their deals, updates, specific project progress news ('local signals'), as well as relevant local research commentaries about the market
We do not verify the underlying data or provide any opinion; we only select and summarise the information. See direct links to the sources


China Property Developers In Distress - Weekly News & Announcements Tracker | Apr 11-17, 2025

Macroeconomics

<ul>
<li>This is a quick note with the results of Real Estate Foresight's annual <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-property-in-hindsight-on-2024-and-draw-the-line-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Draw the Line' survey</a>, which focused on China's new home sales for 2025</li>
<li>Responses concentrate in the -5% to -10% range but vary from -20% to +20%, vs -14% actual for 2024</li>
<li>Jan-Feb 2025 actual figure published mid-March by NBS shows an improvement from -14% to -12% (12 months rolling vs prior 12 months)</li>
</ul>


This is a quick note with the results of Real Estate Foresight's annual 'Draw the Line' survey, which focused on China's new home sales for 2025
Responses concentrate in the -5% to -10% range but vary from -20% to +20%, vs -14% actual for 2024
Jan-Feb 2025 actual figure published mid-March by NBS shows an improvement from -14% to -12% (12 months rolling vs prior 12 months)


China Property: 2025 "Draw The Line" Forecasts for New Home Sales - Results

<ul>
<li>This note is a weekly (select weeks on SK) curated selection of Chinese news articles and company announcements focused on developers in distress</li>
<li>We look for their deals, updates, specific project progress news ('local signals'), as well as relevant local research commentaries about the market</li>
<li>We do not verify the underlying data or provide any opinion, we only select and summarize the information; See direct links to the sources</li>
</ul>


This note is a weekly (select weeks on SK) curated selection of Chinese news articles and company announcements focused on developers in distress
We look for their deals, updates, specific project progress news ('local signals'), as well as relevant local research commentaries about the market
We do not verify the underlying data or provide any opinion, we only select and summarize the information; See direct links to the sources


China Property Developers In Distress - Weekly News & Announcements Tracker | Feb 21- 27, 2025

China Property Developers In Distress - Weekly News & Announcements Tracker | Jan 31- Feb 6, 2025

Robert is the Founder-CEO & Chief Analyst of Real Estate Foresight Ltd (REF) (www.realestateforesight.com), an independent analytics, research, and consulting firm based in Hong Kong and focused on the Mainland China property markets. 

Since 2012, REF has been helping investors with market research, project due diligence, and strategy development.

This has ranged from detailed assessments and estimates on distressed developers' project portfolios to market due diligence on specific projects to macro-level questions linked to demand for commodities.

The unique combination of the housing markets and developer data from data partner China Index Academy in Beijing, primary research, and technology-powered alternative data collection from public sources result in a valuable content set used in REF analytics and reports.

More info: https://www.realestateforesight.com

Robert started the company in 2012, after 13 years at Thomson Reuters in two major roles as Global Head of Real Estate Markets (London/Hong Kong) and earlier as Head of Corporate Foresight in Group Strategy in London. He holds a dual MBA degree from London Business School and Columbia Business School in New York, and MSc from Warsaw School of Economics. Robert holds an international master in chess title.

In 2017, Robert founded Robotic Online Intelligence Ltd (ROI) (www.roboticonline.ai), a startup in AI-powered automation of research for data collection and market intelligence, serving primarily data companies and research firms. 

ROI's Kubro(TM) Information Engine enterprise SaaS solution has been deployed commercially since 2018, with clients in the US, UK, and Asia, in areas ranging from real estate, and policy research, to data centers, and carbon and digital asset markets.