Desperate Chinese property developer willing to 'swap wheat for house'

Property developers are scrambling to boost sales after a nosedive in transactions in January to May amid China's strict Covid-19 curbs

A desperate developer in China’s softening property market is coming up with a novel promotion to attract buyers, recently offering to take wheat and garlic as down payments.

One advertisement of Henan-based Central China Real Estate that had “swap wheat for house” in the title says buyers can use the crop, priced at 2 yuan per catty, a Chinese unit of mass equal to roughly 500 grams, to offset as much as 160,000 yuan ($23,900.22) of down payment in one of its developments.

A Central China Real Estate sales agent who answered the phone number on the advertisement said the promotion, aimed