Core Insights - The Chinese real estate market is experiencing significant declines, with September data showing a 0.64% month-on-month drop in second-hand residential prices, the largest in a year, and a 0.41% drop in new residential prices, the largest in 11 months [1] - Continuous price declines have led to a prolonged downturn in the real estate market, resulting in developer defaults, delayed property deliveries, increased bank bad debts, reduced local government revenues, and a decrease in household wealth [3] - Foreign investors have incurred substantial losses, with approximately $140 billion (equivalent to 10 trillion RMB) trapped in the Chinese real estate market [3][5] Foreign Investment Impact - Over the past 15 years, foreign institutional investment in China's real estate sector, including various property types, has totaled around $140 billion [5] - Many foreign investors expected sustained demand in the Chinese real estate market but were caught off guard by significant price drops, with some properties falling to levels seen a decade ago [5] - Major asset management firms, such as BlackRock and Carlyle, have begun to sell off their commercial properties in China at substantial losses due to the ongoing market slump [7][12] Specific Case Studies - BlackRock's fund faced foreclosure by Standard Chartered Bank for failing to repay loans, resulting in the loss of two buildings in Shanghai, originally purchased for 1.2 billion RMB, which were later sold for approximately 680 million RMB, leading to a loss of 420 million RMB for BlackRock [9][10] - Carlyle sold a 31-story office building in Shanghai for just over 50% of its original purchase price from 2015, amid rising vacancy rates that have increased from 4.6% to 22% [12] - Blackstone, a major foreign owner of logistics parks in China, has also sold properties at significant losses, indicating a broader trend of foreign divestment from the Chinese real estate market [15]