In Depth: China’s Property Slump Defies Playbook of the Past

As China’s real estate market continues to defy government efforts to bring it back to life, market players and analysts trying to call the bottom are out of signposts.

Historically in China, it would typically take three to eight months for loosened monetary policy and credit support to reverse a down cycle. But this one has already dragged on for two and a half years despite almost a year of dramatic policy easing. Nothing that national or local authorities tried has moved the needle.