As they try to attract buyers, several Chinese property developers have stated that they will accept food as payment.
Companies advertised offers to allow people to use produce, including water melons, garlic and peaches, as down payments for new homes.
However, there are some unusual offers that have been made.
China’s home sales have dropped for 11 consecutive months, and this week, a major developer defaulted upon its debts.
A property company in Wuxi’s eastern city said last week that it would allow peaches to be used as down payment for homes. It will accept 188,888 Chinese Yuan ($28,218; PS23.289)
Nanjing’s other developer said it would take 5,000kg from farmers. The produce was valued at 100,000 Chinese Yuan, which is more than what it would cost on local markets.
The promotion, which was supposed to last until Friday, has been cancelled, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper.
The paper quotes a representative from the company saying that they were instructed to remove all promotional posters from social media platforms.
Property firm Central China Management launched a 16-day campaign to accept garlic down payments in May for homes in China’s Qi County, a key garlic-producing area.
The firm stated in WeChat that it was helping farmers “with love” and made it easier for them buy homes.
One catty of garlic was exchanged for five Chinese Yuan. This is three times the market price.
According to the company, it accepted 860,000 garlic catties in 30 home deals.
It has since removed an advertisement for a similar deal involving wheat that was posted on WeChat last month. BBC asked for comment but the company did not respond immediately.
Experts believe the deals allow developers to circumvent local authority restrictions that limit the discounts they can offer.
Official data for May shows that China’s residential property sales fell by 41.7% compared to a year ago, marking the 11th consecutive month with declines.
Shimao Group, a major Chinese developer, announced that it had failed to pay interest and principal on $1bn (PS825m), of offshore bonds due the same day.
According to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong filing, the company stated that it has seen a “noticeable decrease” in sales and “significant changes in the macro environment of China’s property sector since the second quarter of 2021 as well as the impact of Covid-19”.
Evergrande, a Chinese real estate company that has been in financial trouble since late last year, is currently restructuring.
