Materials Circulation Association: In March, the national building materials and home market welcomed a "small spring" market trend, with the BHI increasing by 15.73 points compared to the previous period.

According to the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Materials circulation Association, the national building materials and home furnishings prosperity index BHI in March was 124.92, up 15.73 points month-on-month and up 5.16 points year-on-year. The sales of building materials and home furnishings in scale above the national level in March were 1280.29 billion yuan, an increase of 27.45% month-on-month and 6.97% year-on-year. The cumulative sales from January to March were 3376.39 billion yuan, up 7.94% year-on-year. CNBM Materials circulation Association Industry Research Department interpreted the BHI data for this period, stating that in March 2025, the home decoration industry entered the traditional peak consumption season, driven by national policies and brand marketing, the national building materials and home furnishings market ushered in a spring "small spring" season. The BHI rose rapidly month-on-month. Specific analysis is as follows: Firstly, analyzing the national real estate market situation: At the policy level, the "Government Work Report" of the "Two Sessions" in 2025 included "stabilizing the property market" as a general requirement and pointed out the need to "continue to make efforts to promote the stabilization of the real estate market" from multiple dimensions including demand, supply, and industry transformation. Regarding the new housing market, the efforts of real estate enterprises in promoting listings increased in March, driven by the entry of high-quality improvement projects in some cities, resulting in a structural increase in the prices of new residential properties in hundreds of cities. According to data from the China Index Research Institute, in March 2025, the average price of new residential properties in 100 cities nationwide was 16,740 yuan per square meter, up 0.17% month-on-month and 2.63% year-on-year. In terms of market transaction volume, first- and second-tier cities performed better than third- and fourth-tier cities, with clear structural differentiation in the market and showing signs of partial recovery. Regarding the second-hand housing market, under the continued favorable policies, the second-hand housing market maintained a high level of activity in March, with significant increases in transaction volume in key cities, although most cities continued to adopt a "price-for-quantity" strategy. The average price of second-hand residential properties in 100 cities was 13,988 yuan per square meter, down 0.59% month-on-month, with a widening decline of 0.17 percentage points from the previous month and a year-on-year decrease of 7.29%. With the warming weather in March, the national building materials and home furnishings market, closely related to the real estate market, synchronously entered the traditional peak season. Companies took advantage of the opportunity to launch a large number of new products in the spring, conducted numerous brand launch events and diversified marketing initiatives, coupled with the effect of national policies to stimulate consumption, accelerating the release of market consumer demand, leading to a 27.45% increase in cumulative sales of national-scale building materials and home furnishing stores in March, with significant growth in demand for high-quality home products such as intelligent, green and healthy products, becoming new highlights in the market. Secondly, analyzing the situation of each sub-index of BHI: The sub-index "Popularity Index" performed well this month, with a value of 183.40, up 42.97 points month-on-month, ranking first in terms of month-on-month increase. The intensive launch of new products, store openings, and promotional activities in the spring effectively attracted consumers to the stores. At the same time, the government allocated 300 billion yuan in long-term special national bonds to support consumers in trading old items for new ones, further stimulating the vitality of building materials and home furnishings consumption, and significantly boosting market popularity. The sub-index "Manager Confidence Index" for this month, a leading indicator, was 161.69, down 25.79 points month-on-month, ranking first in terms of month-on-month decline; however, with an absolute value of 58.61 (above 50 indicating optimistic market sentiment, below 50 indicating pessimistic market sentiment), it still remained in a relatively high prosperity range, indicating relatively stable market confidence, but also reflecting concerns within the industry about the market direction after the weakening of subsequent policy effects. This is corroborated by the release of the March China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, which stood at 50.5% in March, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month. However, while the manufacturing industry continues to rebound, the indices for purchase quantities, purchase prices, factory prices, and production operation expectations have all declined to varying degrees, highlighting issues such as oversupply and insufficient production confidence. The organization has issued a "Proposal on CNBM and the Home Furnishing Industry's Response to U.S. Bullying Tariffs" and also suggested that companies remain confident, fully recognize the strong resilience and vast market potential of China's building materials and home furnishing industry, and actively address external challenges. It advocates unwaveringly promoting the "dual circulation" development strategy and deepening domestic demand. Seizing national strategic opportunities such as the "dual carbon" target, urban renewal, rural revitalization, consumer goods "old-for-new" programs, "AI+" initiatives, consumer revitalization special actions, development of the silver-haired economy, etc., to expand development space. BHI stands for the Building Materials and Home Furnishings Prosperity Index of China. It is an index of the prosperity of building materials and home furnishings terminal sales markets compiled and released by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Materials circulation Association, under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce's Development Department. It is compiled from the relevant data of 50,000 building materials and home furnishings merchants nationwide. The BHI reflects the prosperity and market trends of building materials, home decor, and renovation materials, and when compared with the national real estate development prosperity index, it can also reflect the strength of the real estate rigid demand.