A Chinese real estate developer is so desperate for business he recently took out an ad offering to let buyers pay up to almost $24,000 of the purchase price in wheat.

In the ad, the developer says buyers can use wheat, at a price of 2 yuan per catty, a Chinese measure equal to a little more than one pound, to pay off the down payment on a house at one of his developments.

A real estate sales agent at the phone number on the ad said the promotion was being offered in areas where it might attract farmers to buy houses. The houses were selling for about the equivalent of $100,000 to $150,000.

At the end of last month, another advertisement for real estate offered to let buyers make their payment in garlic, at a rate of 5 yuan per catty. The company said the garlic promotion produced 30 transactions, yielding 860,000 catties of garlic.

Garlic and wheat are both normally priced at 1.5 yuan per catty in the region.

Property developers are said to be turning desperate to gin up transactions after a collapse in sales from January to May. China’s strict Covid lockdowns, combined with a perception China’s real estate market is on the cusp of a correction have put buyers in a holding pattern.

Other developers are offering free parking lots, or free renovations after purchase.

Cities have been introducing hundreds of new measures to try and breathe life into the stalled sector. Among them are smaller down payments, subsidies, and improved terms for families with children.

Agents sound hopeful that buyers are starting to warm up, but given the economic uncertainty in China, it is too soon to make any predictions. So sellers are looking to make any deals they can.