Real estate in the People's Republic of China is developed and managed by public, private, and state-owned red chip enterprises.

In the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the real estate sector in the People's Republic of China (PRC) was growing so rapidly that the government implemented a series of policies—including raising the required down payment for some property purchases, and five 2007 interest rate increases—due to concerns of overheating. But after the crisis hit, these policies were quickly eliminated, and in some cases tightened. Beijing also launched a massive stimulus package to boost growth, and much of the stimulus eventually flowed into the property market and drove prices up, resulting in investors increasingly looking abroad. As of 2015, the market was experiencing low growth and the central government had eased prior measures to tighten interest rates, increase deposits and impose restrictions. By early 2016, the Chinese government introduced a series of measures to increase property purchases, including lower taxes on home sales, limiting land sales for new development projects, and the third in a series of mortgage down payment reductions. In the 2020s, a slowdown in the sector led to the real estate sector to be increasingly dominated by state-owned enterprises.

With the exception of rural land (which is owned collectively by rural villagers) land in China is state-owned. The state leases the right to use land for periods of time which vary based on use: industrial land can be leased for 30 years, commercial land for 40 years, and residential land for 70 years. Traditionally, the right to use industrial land was sold at a discount while commercial and residential real estate prices were determined by the market.

Rural land is collectively owned and leased to individual households. Rural land is broadly categorized as either farmland, homestead, or other construction land.

The origins of modern real estate enterprises in China can be traced back to the mid-19th century. After the First Opium War in 1840, foreign powers established concessions in cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Tianjin. The influx of large populations into these areas led to increased housing demand, prompting both Chinese and foreign merchants to engage in real estate development, with land values and property prices rising significantly during this period. By the 1920s, independent real estate companies had gradually replaced landlord-run rental agencies and offices, becoming the dominant force in China's real estate sector. The industry experienced rapid growth until the full-scale outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. After the war ended in 1945, the real estate market briefly recovered as wartime migrants returned home. However, with the eruption of the second phase of the Chinese Civil War in 1946, the industry began to decline. Prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, foreign-owned properties in China totaled over 10 million square meters, concentrated in major cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beiping (now Beijing), and were held by entities from 34 countries including the United Kingdom and the United States.

From the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 until 1978, a fully public ownership economic system was implemented. Urban land was entirely nationalized, and all properties owned by Nationalist government and its military and political officials were confiscated. Foreign-owned real estate was also uniformly brought under state ownership. Remaining properties were turned into state assets through means such as takeover, requisition, debt repayment, or purchase. All public properties were managed uniformly by government departments. Initially, a small number of privately owned properties were allowed to operate legally, but these were gradually expropriated during the Socialist Transformation and the 1958 state buyout—a process that scholars have described as eliminating the real estate industry as an independent economic sector.

Before the 1978 Reform and Opening-Up, the PRC operated under a centrally planned economy. Housing was not treated as a commodity but as a form of welfare. Productive real estate, such as factory buildings and infrastructure, was financed and allocated by the state without compensation, while non-productive housing, including employee residences, was also planned, constructed, and distributed by government agencies and state-owned work units under a unified administrative system. Scholars have noted that housing was financed by government capital expenditure and allocated by work units, with user-residents paying only nominal rents. This model placed long-term fiscal pressure on state institutions responsible for maintenance and service provision. In the late 1970s, official surveys indicated that average urban living space per person was below 4 square meters, reflecting a severe housing shortage. Many residents lived in overcrowded communal apartments, often sharing kitchens and bathrooms with multiple households.

Housing was the first social policy-related sector to be marketized. The government began this process by selling private housing, encouraging subsidized ownership, and then addressed rent reform. Initial policies of selling private housing and subsidized ownership were not successful (there was a lack of public interest for purchasing private housing; employers were unhappy with the high subsidies required of them). Rent reform was more effective, ultimately combining cash subsidies or vouchers (which gradually decreased over time) with permitting rent to be raised.