China’s top real estate platform Soufun announced on Thursday it will seal between $400 and $700 million in funding from a group of investors including IDG Capital and Carlyle Group, as well as CEO Vincent Mo.
The company’s stock price has suffered recently, like many similar real estate platforms, as China’s real estate market continues to slow along with other areas in the economy.
The message from CEO Vincent Mo is similar to a handful of other big platforms and tech companies who are looking to stave off slowdown by entering tier-three cities and expanding their existing share into a monopoly.
He said the company would use the funds to “expand aggressively to more cities and rapidly increase its market share in existing cities.”
The housing market in China, while nowhere near as profitable as it was in the midst of the real estate boom, has some reasons to be hopeful recently. Housing restrictions on people buying second homes have been loosened, opening up the potential for buyers to begin less risky property investments. Government stimulus has also helped the market gain back a little of its vitality.
Soufun will likely be looking to expand its overall market to maintain growth. The company’s stock lost 47% of their value in the pat three months as market turmoil continues to wreak havoc on China’s A-shares.
The online real estate market is has slowed, but seems to still see some investment. Last week Fangdd, a popular Chinese real estate platform startup, announced a $223 million USD series C funding. In March 58.com merged with Anjuke, a Chinese property site, as the companies planned to create a separate group manage their property investments.