Among the "land kings" across the country, those in Hangzhou are the most outrageous.

Since last year, when everyone was shouting that the real - estate bubble in Hangzhou was about to burst, unexpectedly, Hangzhou has fallen into madness again.

In the first half of the year, the total land transfer fee reached 116 billion yuan, surpassing Beijing by 15.44 billion yuan and ranking first in the country. It increased by 96% year - on - year, almost equal to the total land transfer fee of last year. Such a speed is unique in the country. The land premium rate is also far ahead. The average premium rate is close to 40%, ranking first in the country, while the average premium rates of the second and third - ranked cities are only about 20%.

 01 Under the Land Kings, the Trend of Luxury Mansions Rises

According to the data from the China Index Academy, in the first half of 2025, the year - on - year increase in the land transfer fee of residential land in 300 cities exceeded 20%, and the average premium rate was 10.3%, an increase of 6.2 percentage points compared with the same period last year. In terms of urban agglomerations, the Yangtze River Delta was the hottest. Only the top 10 enterprises spent 147 billion yuan on land acquisition here.

Among the Yangtze River Delta cities, Hangzhou is the most outstanding.

Also according to the data from the China Index Academy, in the first half of this year, 68 residential land parcels were successfully transferred in Hangzhou. The total amount was 116 billion yuan, ranking first in the country in both quantity and amount. Binjiang Group, the current leading developer in Hangzhou, contributed the most, spending 30.8 billion yuan. Greentown, the former leading developer, also contributed 17.4 billion yuan to help Hangzhou become the city with the most expensive land.

Source: China Index Academy

Looking at the top 10 list of the total transaction prices of residential land in June across the country, Hangzhou tied with Beijing and Shanghai with 3 residential land parcels. The total transaction amount was 12.2 billion yuan, lower than that of Beijing but higher than that of Shanghai.

 Top 10 in the total transaction price of residential land in June (Source: China Index Academy)

The madness of Hangzhou as the city with the most expensive land is not only reflected in the transaction amount but also in the extremely high premium rate and the continuous emergence of land kings in different cities/areas.

According to the data from 58 Anjuke, driven by the frequent emergence of "land kings" in hot cities, the floor price of residential land in 65 key cities across the country increased by 22.3%. In terms of the premium rate, Hangzhou's average premium rate is as high as 35.5%, ranking first in the country. Chengdu and Shanghai, which follow closely, have a premium rate of only about 20%, and Beijing has only 7.2%.

Source: 58 Anjuke Research Institute

One land king after another has emerged like tides.

First, the city - level land kings:

On January 24th, after 220 rounds of bidding, Binjiang Group won the Hushu Minsheng Pharmaceutical Factory land parcel with a total price of 5.456 billion yuan, a floor price of about 64,834 yuan per square meter, and a premium rate of 71.25%.

On March 25th, after 72 rounds of bidding, Binjiang Group won the Aoti Hydropower New Village land parcel with a total price of 5.2 billion yuan, a floor price of about 77,409 yuan per square meter, and a premium rate of 69.86%.

On March 28th, after 102 rounds of bidding, Jianfa Real Estate won the Jiangcun land parcel with a total price of 3.434 billion yuan, a floor price of about 88,029 yuan per square meter, and a premium rate of 115.39%.

Looking across the whole city of Hangzhou, from the Minsheng Pharmaceutical Factory land parcel to the Hydropower New Village land parcel and then to the Jiangcun land parcel, in just about two months, the record of the city's unit - price land king was refreshed three times. The floor price soared from 60,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan per square meter. The maximum number of bidding rounds exceeded 200, and the premium rate exceeded 115%. The fastest frequency of breaking the record was only 3 days. The price of 88,000 yuan per square meter of the Jiangcun land parcel has exceeded the highest record of the land king in Shenzhen and is only second to Beijing and Shanghai. In terms of land price, Hangzhou is already the third - ranked city in the country.

Meanwhile, more than 20 area - level land kings have emerged one after another.

In January: Binjiang's new land king in Xiaoshan New Area (floor price: 38,859 yuan per square meter), China Resources' new land king in Yuncheng Area (floor price: 26,101 yuan per square meter);

In February: China Resources' land king in Angel Area (floor price: 50,683 yuan per square meter), Zhongtian & Haiwei's land king in Shiqiao Area (floor price: 23,035 yuan per square meter);

In March: Poly's land king in Sandun Area (floor price: 22,890 yuan per square meter);

In April: Yuexiu's land king in Canal New City (floor price: 39,146 yuan per square meter), Ningbo Dongtou's land king in Santang (floor price: 46,268 yuan per square meter), Greentown's land king in Shushan Area (floor price: 25,419 yuan per square meter), Poly's land king in Qianjiang Century City (floor price: 51,611 yuan per square meter);

In May: Xifang's land king in Dongxin Area (floor price: 41,305 yuan per square meter), Zhongtian & Haiwei's land king in Baimahu Area (floor price: 35,088 yuan per square meter);

In June: Binjiang's land king in Shushan (floor price: 29,330 yuan per square meter), Jianfa's land king in Weike (floor price: 30,129 yuan per square meter), Jinmao's land king in Canal New City (floor price: 41,240 yuan per square meter), Jindi's land king in Qianjiang Century City (floor price: 54,472 yuan per square meter);

......

With the surging land market and the frequent emergence of land kings, Hangzhou seems to be on the trend of becoming a city of luxury mansions.

According to the data from the China Index Academy, the average transaction price of new houses in Hangzhou in the first half of 2025 was 31,777 yuan per square meter, almost catching up with Guangzhou (average price: 34,442 yuan per square meter). In June alone, the average price of new - house samples in Hangzhou was 31,191 yuan per square meter, with a continuous expansion of the month - on - month increase. The average price in Guangzhou was only 24,980 yuan per square meter, and the prices in new first - tier cities such as Nanjing were basically below 25,000 yuan per square meter.

Source: China Index Academy

Source: China Index Academy

The main reasons are the lifting of project price limits and the entry of land - king projects into the market. It can be seen that luxury mansions worth tens of millions, such as Greentown Yulan Yuehuating, are still popular even after multiple price increases. Of course, there are also many top - end luxury projects. For example, 15 units of Binyun Jinshangwan, with a total price of nearly 50 million yuan, were sold in the first half of the year. The total price of Heyuguangnianfu, with a single - unit area of about 4,152 square meters, exceeds 100 million yuan. Next, there are about 1,200 top - end luxury mansions worth 30 million yuan waiting to enter the market. Maybe the price of new houses in Hangzhou will reach a new level then.

The second - hand housing data better shows that the trend of luxury mansions in Hangzhou is on the rise. In May, the volume and price of the second - hand housing market in Hangzhou both declined. For example, the prices of communities with a unit price of less than 50,000 yuan per square meter generally decreased. However, luxury mansions, especially communities with a unit price of over 80,000 yuan per square meter, mostly increased in price, and the increase was not small. The top - end luxury mansions worth hundreds of millions were even more popular. A villa in Jiuxi Rose Garden was sold for 140 million yuan, a single - family villa in West Lake Golf Club was sold for 120 million yuan, and there were multiple villas worth hundreds of millions sold in Greentown Taohuayuan. One of them, with a construction area of about 1,048.87 square meters, was sold for about 190 million yuan, with a unit price of over 180,000 yuan per square meter.

 Source: Qianbao Hangzhou Real Estate

 Source: Qianbao Hangzhou Real Estate

 Source: Qianbao Hangzhou Real Estate

Hangzhou truly deserves the name of a city of luxury mansions.

 02 Strong Purchasing Power

Looking back on the past twenty years, the real - estate market in Hangzhou has been up and down. From the trough to the peak, then off the pedestal and back on the rise. The fate of the land kings along the way is a microcosm of it.

Hangzhou's land kings in 20 years (Charted by Future Habitat)

From 2005 to 2016, over a period of more than 10 years, Hangzhou had a total of 5 land kings. The first project to push the floor price in Hangzhou above 20,000 yuan per square meter was West Lake No. 8 Mansion, which is only about 200 meters away from the West Lake. With a volume of about 70 units, it attracted a lot of attention even without much publicity. When the project was launched in 2007, the selling price was as high as 64,000 yuan per square meter, while the average price of new houses in Hangzhou at that time was only about 15,000 yuan per square meter. The unit price of its top - tier housing even reached 122,000 yuan per square meter, more expensive than the famous luxury mansion Tomson Riviera in Shanghai at that time.

However, the subsequent land - king projects didn't have smooth fates.

Binjiang's highly - anticipated "Xixi Mingzhu" was launched four years later due to the high floor price. At that time, the average price of the bare - shell houses was about 32,000 yuan per square meter, which couldn't even cover the cost, let alone make a profit. Then, Jinyu Xuefu, another land - king project, was launched two years after land acquisition. The price gradually increased from 43,000 yuan per square meter at the initial launch to about 60,000 yuan per square meter, and it was fortunately sold out after a long time on the market.

Hangzhou Royal Garden, which was born in 2009, was even more unlucky. After Xizi won the land parcel that year, Greentown joined in for cooperative development. According