The first half of 2026 saw the property management industry transition away from an era of extensive scale expansion. Driven by multiple variables including top-level policy, local regulations, market supply and demand, and corporate strategy, the sector has completed a shift in identity from a supporting service industry to a core vehicle for urban grassroots governance. With comprehensive regulatory tightening, rigid cost increases, intensified competition in the existing stock market, and new growth avenues opening in urban services and community value-added offerings, the industry has formally entered a new phase of high-quality development characterized by a balance of quality and speed, with compliance as the priority. This analysis reviews the industry's landscape from the three dimensions of policy, market, and corporate activity for the first half of the year, forecasts key development trends for the second half, and explores these with industry professionals. A full version of the report is available upon request.
Policy Review: Comprehensive Reshaping of Industry Rules
In the first half of the year, national and provincial/municipal policies covered 15 specific areas including top-level positioning, grassroots governance, fund supervision, credit security, and digital transformation. The regulatory logic has shifted from "post-facto rectification" to "closed-loop, full-process control." Top-level design has been elevated, achieving a historic rise in the industry's status. The "15th Five-Year Plan" incorporated property management for the first time, defining it as a core component of the housing system and a key life service industry, explicitly allowing for the extension into public welfare services like elderly care and childcare, thereby establishing a top-level basis for diversified development. Nationally, action plans for service industry quality improvement and guiding opinions from the National Service Industry Conference were released, clearly rejecting low-price internal competition and guiding companies towards quality and branding. Revision work on the "Property Management Regulations" has commenced, clarifying the rights and responsibilities of property managers, owners, and developers, significantly raising the industry's compliance threshold. Emergency system planning has designated property management as the primary responsible entity for community disaster prevention and flood control.
A collaborative mechanism for grassroots governance has been implemented, transforming property management into a governance partner. Many regions have introduced policies to connect urban management, communities, and property management, addressing the pain point of property managers having "responsibility without authority": Jiangsu is implementing a "community whistle, department response" system, deploying urban management forces into residential compounds, aiming for full coverage by 2027; Beijing has issued standards for "three responsibilities at the doorstep," clarifying the boundaries between property management, merchants, and municipal management; Hainan has released urban and rural sanitation operation quotas, providing pricing benchmarks for property companies undertaking municipal sanitation outsourcing.
Service standardization has been rolled out comprehensively to address the long-standing issue of "quality not matching price." Provinces and cities across the country have concentrated on issuing property service grades, cost quotas, and standardized contract templates, establishing quantifiable service benchmarks: Heilongjiang released reference cost quotas for residential property services, creating a one-to-one correspondence between service content and resource consumption; Hubei and Wuhan have clearly delineated property service grades; Shanghai, Beijing, and Hainan have unified new versions of model property service contracts, aiming to reduce fee disputes from the source.
Supervision of public income is becoming stricter, comprehensively compressing gray areas. A unified national regulatory framework has been formed, featuring dedicated account storage, regular disclosure, mandatory audits, and credit penalties, with varying enforcement levels across regions: High-strictness mode: Shanghai has established a city-wide unified public income supervision account, prohibiting the secondary allocation of property fee costs into public income; Changsha conducts regular special audits of residential compounds, clearing historical违规 funds; Chengdu has built a smart platform for pre-budgeting and real-time disclosure of public income and expenditure. Routine control mode: Guangxi and Henan have clarified a list of ten sources of public income, with fund banks interconnected with supervision platforms, requiring quarterly disclosures for no less than 30 days, and违规 behavior being recorded in corporate credit files.
Digital reform of maintenance funds is improving efficiency. In June, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development officially implemented national unified data standards for maintenance funds, establishing a "one household, one file" digital foundation and enabling cross-regional data interoperability. Localities have simultaneously innovated mechanisms: Jiangsu and Shenzhen have introduced maintenance and renewal loans to alleviate funding gaps for major repairs; Hangzhou has established a simplified usage process for maintenance funds, and Wuxi has fully implemented electronic voting to solve the difficulty of obtaining owner approval.
Using housing provident fund to pay property fees is moving from pilot to national legislation. The revised draft of the "Housing Provident Fund Management Regulations" for public comment includes paying property fees as a statutory withdrawal scenario. Regions have differentially opened withdrawal limits: Hangzhou's annual withdrawal上限 of 10,000 yuan is the highest nationally; Qingdao has implemented zero-document online processing; cities like Liuzhou and Langfang have set annual limits of 2,000-4,000 yuan, continuously alleviating owner payment pressure and improving industry collection rates.
Multiple cost pressures form long-term rigid constraints. Tax pressure: New VAT rules requiring prepaid property fees to be fully taxed in the current period have significantly squeezed corporate cash flow by front-loading tax burdens. Labor costs: The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has issued mandatory work injury insurance policies for over-age workers, and collective bargaining has raised salaries for基层 positions like security and cleaning, leading to持续 rising人力 costs.
Credit, disputes, and safety构建 a complete regulatory闭环. Credit分级 linked to market access: Beijing implements a four-tier A/B/C/D property evaluation system, with C/D levels restricting bidding; Wuhan has established a five-tier credit system implementing differentiated spot checks; Zhanjiang's credit evaluation extends to project leaders, with personal违规行为同步 recorded. Dispute resolution acceleration: Commercial mediation regulations and judicial policies prioritizing property cases have been implemented; Foshan has launched an AI dispute handling system, reducing processing cycles by over 70%. Safety responsibility legalization: Property management is明确 the first responsible party for elevator safety; housing safety management regulations are进入 legislative planning; regions regularly通报 property companies for inadequate fire safety履职, with flood control and extreme weather emergency response capabilities纳入考核 as硬性指标.
Supporting policies for incremental sectors释放红利. Old residential compound连片托管: Shanghai, Beijing, and Hunan encourage integrated连片 management combining "renovation + long-term operation," solving the problem of loss-making abandonment of small, old compounds. Property + public welfare services: The nationwide推进 of long-term care insurance provides payment security for community-based elderly care; Shandong and Hainan are piloting one-stop property services for childcare and meal assistance. Smart property acceleration: Qingdao has opened government-enterprise scenarios for AI cleaning and智能巡检; Shanghai is implementing "one object, one code" digital management for buildings; Wuhan focuses on smart terminal applications for fire safety and积水监测.
Comprehensive digital supervision platforms have been established. Multiple regions including Sichuan, Henan, and Fujian have launched online mini-programs for property complaints and supervision, allowing owners to report issues with one click and enabling real-time supervision and follow-up. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development deploys annual urban health checks, with property service shortcomings documented and retained; failure to rectify may trigger property更换 procedures.
Market Review: Diversification and Logic Reconfiguration
Residential Property: Old compound连片托管 has become a certain增量. In H1, over ten cities nationwide implemented连片 management models for old residential compounds, solving the dilemma of "old, small, scattered" compounds being unwanted and having excessively low fees. Shanghai团购物业模式: Poly took over 12 old compounds in Yangpu, with the街道 first investing in renovations to improve living experience, raising property fees from 0.18 yuan to 0.6-0.8 yuan, achieving nearly 78% owner approval; Fuxin Property integrated 3微型 compounds, improving quality without reducing fees through集约化 operation. Hangzhou先体验后付费: Greentown integrated dozens of old compounds in Gongshu and Xihu, merging management areas to reduce人力 costs, raising property fees from 0.15 yuan to 0.56 yuan, saving over a million yuan annually in人力 expenses. Multi-region特色方案: Beijing整建制接管, Chengdu推行信托制, Wuhan采用 "government subsidy + property fee +增值收益" 442 mixed model, Xiamen城中村 EPC integrated托管.
Commercial Office & Industrial Parks: High-end IFM integrated demand爆发. Leading property companies持续 secured全链条 facilities management orders for headquarters of internet, new energy, and manufacturing enterprises: Techfull Service signed with Bilibili's global headquarters, Longfor智创服务落地小鹏 headquarters, Gemdale simultaneously serves SMIC and小鹏 dual headquarters, Cmsk&积余深耕 financial and e-commerce office buildings and released专属 service白皮书. Industrial parks and high-end office buildings,凭借高毛利, have become key battlegrounds for leading enterprises.
Urban Services: Tripartite竞争格局 formed, Guangdong leads the market. Large-scale "City Butler" and integrated sanitation projects are frequent, with market participants divided into three categories: Traditional sanitation leaders (YUETIAN,侨银) hold 40% of large projects, often single projects worth billions; Construction central SOEs like CSCEC and CRCC win超大体量特许经营 projects worth billions through consortium bidding; Property company penetration is below 10%, mainly focused on中小型 projects in街道 and parks, with布局 by COLI, Vanke, and Poly. Regionally, Guangdong leads nationally with 15 projects totaling 3.52 billion yuan, followed by Anhui and Hebei.
Public Institution Property (Schools/Hospitals/Venues) steadily expands. Demand for后勤 services from universities, top-tier hospitals, and port government facilities持续释放, with精细化 energy operation becoming a new core requirement. For example, MINGDE Property secured projects for 10 universities in a single month, New DASIT深耕华南 medical后勤, COLI and国贸物业 won benchmark projects in Hong Kong and port government facilities. Following the implementation of the "Public Institution Carbon Emission Accounting Guidelines," energy-saving operation has become a硬性加分项 in public institution投标.
Capital Market: Valuation differentiation, M&A回归理性. Listing dynamics: Hebei Liantou Technology冲刺港交所; Jinke Service and Rayson Living Services completed delistings, the former affected by parent company debt, the latter强制摘牌 due to corporate governance issues. M&A transactions: The industry告别大规模扫盘, with transactions focusing on strategic互补. New DASIT acquired Jiaxin Liheng for 917 million yuan, C&D Property completed internal物业 resource integration; Evergrande Property restructuring negotiations were suspended, highlighting the increased difficulty of disposing of property assets from distressed developers.
Corporate Strategy: Eight Major Moves Driving Deep Transformation
Rebranding,全面转向城市综合运营商. Several leading companies adjusted corporate names,重塑 strategic positioning: CCCC Realty更名 CCCC Development, Shenzhen Metro Property更名 Shenzhen Metro City Services, Poly Property定位 "Chief Operator for Comprehensive Urban Governance," Rongtong established Zhongrong Property for不动产运维, the industry彻底摆脱 the real estate配套标签.
Proactively剥离低效 projects, focusing on优质资产. Leaders like Vanke, Poly, Greentown, and COLI uniformly established project health assessment systems,批量清退 low-collection, high-loss compounds: Vanke terminated 173 low-efficiency contracts in H1, Poly清退 over 50 projects with weak回款, Greentown收缩 from over 200 cities to 56 core cities, concentrating resources on高价值 regions.
Service product iteration,全生命周期体系落地. Major companies launched standardized community service IPs: Poly落地专属 plans for儿童,长者,健身; Seazen悦围绕空置,装修,常住三类业主打造全周期管家; Vanke举办 528居住节,发布 23项公开 service commitments; Dongyuan仁知 invited owners to participate in service co-creation, strengthening双向信任.
"Property +"增值业务多点开花. Elderly care & wellness: Greentown released康乐养老 product line, Poly打造 15-minute银发 community, Vanke联动 hospitals落地 community医疗. Community retail: Vanke Yunduo Mall, Longfor优选, Shimao小到家 built convenient online platforms.细分配套: Poly布局 community维修门店, Greentown推出少儿游泳 IP, Cmsk&积余打造 pet-friendly communities,盘活闲置空间 for car washing and场地租赁经营.
AI & Robotics become core productivity. In H1,智能化 moved from pilot to规模化落地: Vanke万物云上线灵石 AI双管家 system; Country Garden量产保洁,安防 robots; Cmsk&积余, N.D. Property上线 AI外呼,智能派单; Poly联合海康打造 AIoT smart community, with significant成效 in人力替代 and能耗优化.
Green & low-carbon构建差异化竞争壁垒. Leading companies布局 zero-carbon parks, photovoltaic storage, virtual power plant业务: Poly released AIEM energy management system with综合节能率超 25%; Vanke万物云落地 zero-carbon industrial park, achieving annual减碳 of 2,210 tons; CECEP and Gemdale依托 green standards建立投标竞争优势.
High-end service IPs &短视频 brand marketing并行. Sunac Service, KWG LIVING (ASX: 03913), Haishanghai推出高端住宅专属 service systems; Cmsk&积余, Hubei Liantou打造城市服务特色 IP; Country Garden Service, Gemdale Property, Longfor智创生活布局短视频矩阵,拉近与业主距离 through frontline employee documentaries and property fee科普 content,重建行业信任.
Talent system全面升级,适配转型需求. Yuexiu Service released全周期 "育树成林" talent plan, Seazen悦服务搭建 project management四力 model; Cmsk&积余, Els Service联动 vocational schools开设定向管家 classes,校企定向输送复合型运维,客服 talent,破解行业用工,专业人才短缺难题.
Core Trends for H2 2026
1. Compliance thresholds持续抬升: Revision of "Property Management Regulations"落地,常态化审计 of public income, maintenance funds, safety management; compliance capability becomes corporate survival底线.
2. Old compound连片托管持续放量: Renovation funds落地 in multiple regions, rapid replication of "renovation + long-term operation" model, representing the year's largest增量 market.
3. Property + elderly care规模化落地: Nationwide铺开 of long-term care insurance, forming replicable盈利 models for community-based elderly care.
4. AI & green become投标硬性门槛: Commercial office, public institution, urban service投标优先考量 smart operation and energy-saving减碳 capabilities.
5. Corporate "瘦身"常态化:持续出清 loss-making old compounds, resources集中向 core cities, high-margin non-residential sectors.
6. Fund supervision digital全覆盖: National maintenance fund and compound public income online supervision platforms逐步打通, fund transparency不可逆.
7. Capital market持续分化: Valuation修复 for companies with stable cash flow,深耕城市服务,细分赛道 leaders; continued pressure on property firms关联 to出险 developers.
8. Property基层治理价值持续放大: Scenarios like "red property," community共建, flood emergency further强化 property public service functions.