(Yicai Global) March 2 -- Sales at China's top 100 real estate developers slumped 37.9 percent on the year in February to CNY324.3 billion (USD46.5 billion), though the property firms acquired a greater amount of land by value.

More than 80 of the companies reported annual declines in February and in the first two months combined, according to data from the property-focused CRIC Research Center. Larger companies logged a smaller decrease, 18.6 percent on average, to sell a mean CNY43.2 billion worth of property in February.

Shenzhen-based titan Evergrande Group racked up CNY47 billion thanks to its online sales channel and the discounts and price pledges it offered to combat the impact of Covid-19.

The developers acquired a total CNY198.4 billion worth of land in February, up 7.2 percent from January, with the top half making up CNY173.1 billion, up 14.7 percent. The top three buyers, Hong Kong Land Holdings, Greentown China Holdings and China Resources Land, bought CNY72.6 billion worth of land in the first two months, up 19.8 percent annually.

Property firms with more cash on hand are leveraging the situation, but others have had to cut back on buying because of the virus, according to real estate research institute the China Index Academy. Sales performance this month should perk up a little as offline sales offices re-open, it added, saying local governments will push land sales in the second quarter and the market will become more active in the second half.

House buying should bounce back big time in the second quarter, the CRIC Research Center continued, but saying that poor performance in the second quarter could hamper companies' financials if the epidemic does not clear up. Developers, particularly those with a lot of debt, will struggle to stay afloat as they splurge on management costs, interest and maturing debts from the first half, it added.

Editor: James Boynton