SHENZHEN, China, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Lifestyle used to be superior for Jerry Tang, who still left his rural hometown in 2014 to turn into a real estate agent in Shenzhen – China’s tech megacity and one of the world’s hottest house markets.

Just a handful of a long time back Tang could make up to 50,000 yuan ($7,800) in a very good thirty day period providing flats. Final 12 months, he was building all-around 15,000 yuan a thirty day period, but this 12 months that’s fallen to about 5,000 yuan and mainly will come from fee on rentals.

“It’s undoubtedly a lot harder to provide this yr,” he said. “Buyers are waiting to see what takes place with the sector, although builders are cash-strapped, they are having time to pay back commission to agents.”

In Shenzhen – residence to 17.6 million people today and firms like gaming powerhouse Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) and telecommunications giant Huawei Systems (HWT.UL) – some lesser real estate agent workplaces have closed. Eight actual estate brokers Reuters spoke with also say at least a third of their colleagues have possibly still left the market or are considering about it.

Lianjia, a important realtor, plans to shut down a fifth, or about a hundred, of its offices in Shenzhen, monetary news assistance Caixin described in September, citing an internal memo. Lianjia and its mother or father firm KE Holdings did not answer to requests for remark.

The lack of turnover in Shenzhen’s residence current market and the fallout on the city’s genuine estate brokers stems in portion from deliberate plan initiatives about the earlier year by nearby authorities to make condominium charges much more affordable, together with necessitating greater down payments for second households and capping resale prices.

But actual estate agents say it also due to the existing disaster of self-assurance hitting China’s assets industry, highlighting just how thoroughly the sector’s woes are reverberating. If Shenzhen – emblematic of China’s meteoric economic increase above the previous 40 several years – is not immune, then handful of places in the nation are.

China’s home market place, which accounts for a quarter of GDP by some metrics, has been struggling unprecedented anxiety immediately after policymakers this 12 months released personal debt caps to rein in abnormal borrowing…