Chinese property firms bank on VR to beat virus

Chinese property firms bank on VR to beat virus

Mass lockdowns in China following the coronavirus outbreak have left property sales in the country facing a full-year decline for the first time in five years.. HONG KONG: China's property developers and realtors are turning to virtual reality salesrooms and livestream marketing to thaw a frozen market as the coronavirus epidemic keeps physical offices shut and potential buyers are afraid to leave their homes.. Twenty of the top 100 developers have done livestream sales since the virus outbreak, property researcher CRIC said, adding that 92 of them run online sales platforms which some recently revamped in response to the virus.. Property sales by floor area in China fell 0.1 percent in 2019, marking the first full-year decline in five years, and analysts expect sales may drop again this year due to the epidemic.. Trying to make homebuyers more comfortable in buying online, Centaline plans to work with property developers to build virtual salesrooms for their new developments.. The Asia-Pacific region is the world's biggest aviation market for commercial aircraft, and Japanese and Chinese firms have embarked on programs to build their own planes.. Chinese manufacturers were forced to pull out because of a ban on travelers from China due to