Document and Entity Information	12 Months Ended
Document and Entity Information	Dec. 31, 2016 shares
Document and Entity Information
Entity Registrant Name	Leju Holdings Ltd
Entity Central Index Key	0001596856
Document Type	20-F
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	139,709,416
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 274,337,674	$ 260,295,909
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $26,350,814 and $31,160,340 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively	71,390,171	113,991,480
Marketable securities	2,181,354
Customer deposits	39,702,416	58,833,225
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	12,755,710	20,880,667
Amounts due from related parties	6,019,121	8,906
Total current assets	406,386,446	454,010,187
Property and equipment, net	7,923,027	6,800,614
Intangible assets, net	78,373,616	90,736,828
Investment in affiliates	408,851	668,938
Goodwill	39,018,058	39,807,243
Deferred tax assets	41,698,296	32,769,692
Other non-current assets	2,058,633	2,044,863
TOTAL ASSETS	575,866,927	626,838,365
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable (including accounts payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $327,140 and $1,573,620 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	1,573,620	327,140
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses (including accrued payroll and welfare expenses of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $34,784,706 and $29,742,853 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	41,727,577	45,691,874
Income tax payable (including income tax payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $27,599,392 and $29,890,262 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	66,147,522	66,814,874
Other tax payable (including other tax payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $17,268,065 and $13,360,481 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	16,678,264	31,930,296
Amounts due to related parties (including amounts due to related parties of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $1,418,096 and $1,581,349 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	1,581,349	10,214,007
Advance from customers and deferred revenue (including advance from customers and deferred revenue of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $5,366,944 and $4,960,924 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	5,058,212	5,703,085
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses (including liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $733,473 and $6,271,191 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	9,355,409	3,914,990
Liability for unpaid consideration of acquiring non-controlling interest (including liability for unpaid consideration of acquiring non-controlling interest of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $7,338,593 and nil as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)		7,338,593
Other current liabilities (including other current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $6,340,375 and $6,809,176 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	8,516,123	7,672,494
Total current liabilities	150,638,076	179,607,353
Deferred tax liabilities (including deferred tax liabilities, non-current of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $523,874 and $533,401 as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively)	18,869,374	22,997,731
Total liabilities	169,507,450	202,605,084
Commitments and contingencies (Note 15)
Equity:
Ordinary shares ($0.001 par value): 500,000,000 and 500,000,000 shares authorized, 134,930,870 and 135,503,958 shares issued and outstanding, as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively	135,504	134,931
Additional paid-in capital	785,019,254	773,766,165
Accumulated deficit	(354,364,813)	(343,658,094)
Subscription receivable		(9,200)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(22,321,234)	(5,521,547)
Total Leju equity	408,468,711	424,712,255
Non-controlling interest	(2,109,234)	(478,974)
Total equity	406,359,477	424,233,281
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY	$ 575,866,927	$ 626,838,365

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 31,160,340	$ 26,350,814
Accounts payable	1,573,620	327,140
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	41,727,577	45,691,874
Income tax payable	66,147,522	66,814,874
Other tax payable	16,678,264	31,930,296
Amounts due to related parties	1,581,349	10,214,007
Advance from customers and deferred revenue	5,058,212	5,703,085
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses	9,355,409	3,914,990
Liability for unpaid consideration for acquiring non-controlling interest		7,338,593
Other current liabilities	8,516,123	7,672,494
Deferred tax liabilities	$ 18,869,374	$ 22,997,731
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Common stock, shares authorized	500,000,000	500,000,000
Common stock, shares issued	135,503,958	134,930,870
Common stock, shares outstanding	135,503,958	134,930,870
Consolidated VIEs without recourse
Accounts payable	$ 1,573,620	$ 327,140
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	29,742,853	34,784,706
Income tax payable	29,890,262	27,599,392
Other tax payable	13,360,481	17,268,065
Amounts due to related parties	1,581,349	1,418,096
Advance from customers and deferred revenue	4,960,924	5,366,944
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses	6,271,191	733,473
Liability for unpaid consideration for acquiring non-controlling interest	0	7,338,593
Other current liabilities	6,809,176	6,340,375
Deferred tax liabilities	$ 533,401	$ 523,874

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Revenues
E-commerce	$ 419,023,733	$ 420,552,177	$ 326,679,871
Online advertising	117,948,842	134,229,255	155,049,818
Listing	22,538,535	21,022,504	14,293,184
Total revenues	559,511,110	575,803,936	496,022,873
Cost of revenues	(57,491,395)	(60,313,726)	(51,129,730)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(521,797,022)	(475,445,516)	(366,341,900)
Other operating income	4,586,746	3,567,965	2,525,496
Income (loss) from operations	(15,190,561)	43,612,659	81,076,739
Interest income	1,312,533	1,167,005	1,316,203
Other income, net	619,750	290,039	35,799
Gain (loss) on disposal of investment or subsidiaries	(185,777)	271,501
Income (loss) before taxes and equity in affiliates	(13,444,055)	45,341,204	82,428,741
Income tax benefit (expense)	2,067,739	(10,307,322)	(15,545,964)
Income (loss) before equity in affiliates	(11,376,316)	35,033,882	66,882,777
Loss from equity in affiliates	(224,752)	(227,977)	(223,389)
Net income (loss)	(11,601,068)	34,805,905	66,659,388
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest	(1,812,229)	(524,184)	138,494
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju shareholders	$ (9,788,839)	$ 35,330,089	$ 66,520,894
Earnings (loss) per share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26	$ 0.51
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26	$ 0.50
Shares used in computation:
Basic (in shares)	135,220,210	134,528,971	129,320,666
Diluted (in shares)	135,220,210	136,223,974	132,502,100

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
Net income (loss)	$ (11,601,068)	$ 34,805,905	$ 66,659,388
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax of nil:
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(16,760,659)	(10,586,435)	(605,736)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(28,361,727)	24,219,470	66,053,652
Less: Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests	(1,771,012)	(559,409)	129,794
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Leju shareholders	$ (26,590,715)	$ 24,778,879	$ 65,923,858

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY - USD ($)	Total Leju Equity	Ordinary Shares	Additional Paid-in Capital	Accumulated Deficit	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	Subscription Receivable	Non-controlling Interest	Total
Balance at Dec. 31, 2013	$ 248,705,937	$ 120,000	$ 686,378,493	$ (443,294,132)	$ 5,621,576	$ (120,000)	$ 3,084,098	$ 251,790,035
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2013		120,000,000
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Net income (loss)	66,520,894			66,520,894			138,494	66,659,388
Issuance of ordinary shares, net of issuance cost	120,257,584	$ 13,529	120,244,055					120,257,584
Issuance of ordinary shares, net of issuance cost ( in shares)		13,529,420
Share-based compensation	8,345,796		9,448,778	(1,102,982)				8,345,796
Changes in equity ownership on acquisition of non-controlling interest	(32,659,173)		(32,659,173)				(3,127,703)	(35,786,876)
Changes in equity ownership on partial disposal of subsidiary	317,782		312,659		5,123		(8,387)	309,395
Payment for subscription receivable from E-House	120,000					120,000		120,000
Contribution From E - House	2,857,251		2,857,251					2,857,251
Deemed distribution to E-House associated with tax liability	(571,227)		(571,227)					(571,227)
Vesting of restricted shares	1,012,000	$ 220	1,011,780					1,012,000
Vesting of restricted shares ( in shares)		220,000
Exercise of share options	535,535	$ 266	1,224,258			(688,989)		535,535
Exercise of share options ( in shares)		266,201
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(597,036)				(597,036)		(8,700)	(605,736)
Balance at Dec. 31, 2014	414,845,343	$ 134,015	788,246,874	(377,876,220)	5,029,663	(688,989)	77,802	414,923,145
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2014		134,015,621
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Net income (loss)	35,330,089			35,330,089			(524,184)	34,805,905
Dividends to shareholders	(26,873,022)		(26,873,022)					(26,873,022)
Dividend to non-controlling interest							(10,260)	(10,260)
Share-based compensation	9,366,815		10,478,778	(1,111,963)			12,893	9,379,708
Vesting of restricted shares	1,012,000	$ 719	1,011,281					1,012,000
Vesting of restricted shares ( in shares)		719,064
Exercise of share options	1,582,240	$ 197	902,254			679,789		1,582,240
Exercise of share options ( in shares)		196,185
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(10,551,210)				(10,551,210)		(35,225)	(10,586,435)
Balance at Dec. 31, 2015	424,712,255	$ 134,931	773,766,165	(343,658,094)	(5,521,547)	(9,200)	(478,974)	$ 424,233,281
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2015		134,930,870						134,930,870
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Net income (loss)	(9,788,839)			(9,788,839)			(1,812,229)	$ (11,601,068)
Share-based compensation	9,018,232		9,936,112	(917,880)			33,411	9,051,643
Vesting of restricted shares	1,012,000	$ 507	1,011,493					1,012,000
Vesting of restricted shares ( in shares)		506,664
Exercise of share options	314,750	$ 66	305,484			$ 9,200		314,750
Exercise of share options ( in shares)		66,424
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(16,801,876)				(16,801,876)		41,217	(16,760,659)
Capital contribution by non-controlling interest							296,959	296,959
Disposal of a subsidiary	2,189				2,189		(189,618)	(187,429)
Balance at Dec. 31, 2016	$ 408,468,711	$ 135,504	$ 785,019,254	$ (354,364,813)	$ (22,321,234)		$ (2,109,234)	$ 406,359,477
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2016		135,503,958						135,503,958

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Operating activities:
Net income (loss)	$ (11,601,068)	$ 34,805,905	$ 66,659,388
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	15,006,676	29,279,835	26,118,778
Loss from equity in affiliates	224,752	227,977	223,389
Loss (gain) on disposal of investment or subsidiaries	185,777	(271,501)
Allowance for doubtful accounts	14,797,072	18,959,895	11,599,708
Share-based compensation	10,655,448	11,518,112	8,880,397
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	(180,112)
Amortization of discounts related to liability for exclusive rights			52,922
Impairment and others	524,810	274,263	35,709
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	23,454,688	(12,189,414)	(45,417,127)
Marketable securities	(2,001,242)
Customer deposits	18,887,756	(58,833,225)
Amounts due from related parties	(7,872,808)	(8,222)	3,471,274
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	9,310,657	(8,334,672)	(4,236,540)
Other non-current assets	17,136	(264,398)	(247,654)
Accounts payable	1,230,644	(42,576)	(1,051,548)
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	(3,954,784)	(2,265,584)	17,515,586
Income tax payable	(646,293)	9,774,416	15,249,420
Other tax payable	(15,401,042)	4,214,594	9,297,217
Amounts due to related parties	(7,620,658)	48,449,802	4,381,372
Other current liabilities and accrued expenses	5,507,463	(16,319,318)	14,668,180
Deferred taxes	(15,416,346)	(7,700,893)	(2,369,482)
Net cash provided by operating activities	35,108,526	51,274,996	124,830,989
Investing activities:
Deposit for and purchase of property and equipment and intangible assets	(4,243,386)	(14,810,650)	(12,122,678)
Investment in affiliates		(369,595)	(245,138)
Cash outflow due to disposal of a subsidiary	(129,643)
Proceeds from disposal of property and equipment	57,186	80,472	12,400
Net cash used in investing activities	(4,315,843)	(15,099,773)	(12,355,416)
Financing activities:
Contribution from non-controlling interest	296,959
Proceeds of loans from related parties	89,462,593
Refund loans to related parties	(87,600,000)	(42,513,286)
Advance from related parties			276,000
Contribution from E-House			120,000
Dividends to non-controlling interests		(10,260)
Proceeds from issuance of ordinary shares, net of paid issuance costs of $15,036,616			120,257,584
Proceeds from exercise of options	314,750	1,582,240	535,535
Acquisition of non-controlling interest of subsidiaries	(7,079,295)	(17,360,080)	(14,418,056)
Dividends to shareholders		(26,873,022)
Proceeds from partial disposal of subsidiaries			309,395
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(4,604,993)	(85,174,408)	107,080,458
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(12,145,925)	(8,515,962)	(474,614)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	14,041,765	(57,515,147)	219,081,417
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year	260,295,909	317,811,056	98,729,639
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	274,337,674	260,295,909	317,811,056
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Income taxes paid	10,199,779	5,196,133	1,953,177
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Related party payable recorded as a capital contribution			2,857,251
Deemed distribution to E-House associated with tax liability			(571,227)
Total equity decreased in connection with disposal of a subsidiary	(187,429)
Decrease in amount due to related party due to vesting of restricted shares	$ 1,012,000	1,012,000	1,012,000
Payables for acquisition of non-controlling interest		$ (7,338,593)	$ (25,645,630)

Organization and Principal Activities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Organization and Principal Activities

Organization and Principal Activities

1. Organization and Principal Activities

Leju Holdings Limited (the “Company” or “Leju”) was incorporated on November 20, 2013 in the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands. The Company, through its subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”), is principally engaged in providing online advertising, e-commerce services and listing services in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). The Company, its subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs are collectively referred to as the “Group”.

E-House (China) Holdings Limited (“E-House Holdings”) is the Company’s parent company from its incorporation to December 30, 2016. E-House Holdings, its subsidiaries and VIEs, excluding the Group, are collectively referred to as “E-House”.

On March 21, 2014, the Company entered into a share purchase and subscription agreement with E-House Holdings and THL O Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent Holdings Limited (“Tencent’’ are to Tencent Holdings Limited or certain of its affiliates which have entered into agreements with the Company), pursuant to which Tencent has acquired from E-House Holdings 19,201,800 of Leju’s ordinary shares for $180 million in cash.

On April 17, 2014, the Company’s ADSs began trading on the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, or the NYSE under the symbol “LEJU”. Including the exercise of an over-allotment option, the Company issued a total of 11,500,000 ADSs, representing 11,500,000 ordinary shares, at an initial offering price of $10.00 per ADS. Concurrent with this offering, the Company also issued and sold 2,029,420 ordinary shares in the private placement to Tencent at $10.00 per share. The Company raised from this initial public offering approximately $101.4 million in net proceeds after deducting underwriting commissions and the offering expenses payable by the Company. Concurrently with the initial public offering, the Company also raised from Tencent in a private placement $18.9 million in net proceeds after deducting estimated fees and expenses payable by the Company.

The following table lists major subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs of the Company as of December 31, 2016:

	Date of Incorporation	Place of Incorporation	Percentage of Ownership
Shanghai SINA Leju Information Technology Co., Ltd (“Shanghai SINA Leju”)	08-May-08	PRC	100	%
E-House City Re-House Real Estate Agency (Shanghai) Limited(“City RE-House”)	04-Mar-10	PRC	100	%
Shanghai Yi Yue Information Technology Co., Ltd (“Shanghai Yi Yue”)	16-Sep-11	PRC	100	%
Beijing Maiteng Fengshun Science and Technology Co., Ltd (“Beijing Maiteng”)	04-Jan-12	PRC	84	%
Beijing Yisheng Leju Information Service Co., Ltd.(“Beijing Leju”)	13-Feb-08	PRC	VIE
Shanghai Yi Xin E-Commerce Co., Ltd.(“Shanghai Yi Xin”)	05-Dec-11	PRC	VIE
Beijing Jiajujiu E-Commerce Co., Ltd.(“Beijing Jiajujiu”)	22-Mar-12	PRC	VIE

The Group’s consolidated financial statements for the periods prior to the Company’s initial public offering (“IPO”) in April 2014 have been prepared on a carve-out basis and represent the assets and liabilities and the related results of operations and cash flows of the Group, which represent the online segment of E-House. The financial data of previously separate entities have been combined, to the extent included in the online segment of E-House, for all periods presented as all such entities were under common control. However, such presentation may not necessarily reflect the results of operations, financial position and cash flows if the Group had actually existed on a stand-alone basis during the periods presented. Transactions between the Group and E-House are herein referred to as related party transactions.

In connection with a contemplated IPO of the Company, the Company entered into non-competition arrangements with E-House Holdings, according to which E-House has agreed not to compete with the Group in online services business anywhere in the world and the Group has agreed not to compete with E-House in any services currently provided or contemplated by E-House other than online services. Prior to these non-competition arrangements, E-House and the Group did not have competition in the services provided.

The consolidated financial statements include the Group’s direct expenses as well as allocations for various selling, general and administrative expenses of E-House that are not directly related to online services. These expenses consist primarily of share-based compensation expenses of senior management and shared marketing and management expenses including accounting, administrative, marketing, internal control, customer service support and legal support services. These allocations were made using a proportional cost allocation method and were based on revenues, headcount as well as estimates of actual time spent on the provision of services attributable to the Group. Management believes these allocations are reasonable. Total selling, general and administrative expenses allocated from E-House was $2,857,251 for the period from January 1, 2014 to the IPO date, recorded as capital contribution by E-House. Income tax provision reflected in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations is calculated based on a separate return basis as if the Group had filed a separate tax return. Subsequent to the IPO, E-House began charging the Group transitional corporate service fees pursuant to agreements entered into in March 2014 in connection with the IPO. Under these transitional services arrangements, E-House provides various corporate support services to the Group, including general finance and accounting, human resource management, administrative, internal control and internal audit, operational management, legal and information technology. E-House charges the Group a fee based on an estimate of the actual cost incurred to provide such services, which amounted to $10,399,978, $6,040,071 and $8,585,821 for the period from the IPO date to December 31, 2014, for the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

On August 12, 2016, E-House Merger Sub Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of E-House Holdings Ltd., or Parent) merged with and into E-House Holdings, with E-House Holdings continuing as the surviving company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. Parent is a Cayman Islands company jointly established by Mr. Xin Zhou, SINA and certain other persons, and controlled by Mr. Xin Zhou. On December 30, 2016, Parent repurchased all the ordinary shares held by SINA in Parent, for an aggregated consideration consisting of 40,651,187 ordinary shares of Leju and a cash payment of $129,038,150. As a result of the foregoing transactions, E-House Holdings is no longer Leju’s controlling shareholder but remains as the largest shareholder of Leju, and SINA has become a principal shareholder of Leju.

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies

2. Summary of Principal Accounting Policies

(a) Basis of presentation

The consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”).

(b) Basis of consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of Leju, its majority owned subsidiaries and its VIEs, Beijing Leju, Shanghai Yi Xin and Beijing Jiajujiu. All inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

The Group evaluates each of its interests in private companies to determine whether or not the investee is a VIE and, if so, whether the Group is the primary beneficiary of such VIE. In determining whether the Group is the primary beneficiary, the Group considers if the Group (1) has power to direct the activities that most significantly affects the economic performance of the VIE, and (2) receives the economic benefits of the VIE that could be significant to the VIE. If deemed the primary beneficiary, the Group consolidates the VIE.

The VIE arrangements

PRC regulations currently prohibit or restrict foreign ownership of companies that provide internet content and advertising services. To comply with these regulations, the Group provides such activities relating to real estate projects through its VIEs and their subsidiaries. To provide the Group effective control over and the ability to receive substantially all of the economic benefits of its VIEs and their subsidiaries, certain of the Company’s subsidiaries, Shanghai SINA Leju, Shanghai Yi Yue and Beijing Maiteng (collectively, the “Foreign Owned Subsidiaries”) entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Beijing Leju, Shanghai Yi Xin and Beijing Jiajujiu (collectively the “VIEs”) and their respective shareholders, respectively, as summarized below:

Name of Foreign Owned Subsidiaries	Foreign Owned Subsidiaries’ Economic Ownership of VIES		Name of VIEs	Activities of VIEs
Shanghai SINA Leju	100	%	Beijing Leju	Operate the online advertising and listing business
Shanghai Yi Yue	100	%	Shanghai Yi Xin	Operate the e-commerce business
Beijing Maiteng	100	%	Beijing Jiajujiu	Operate the online home furnishing business

The VIEs hold the requisite licenses and permits necessary to conduct internet content and advertising services activities relating to real estate projects from which foreign ownership of companies are prohibited or restricted. In addition, the VIEs hold leases and other assets necessary to operate such business and generate a majority of the Group’s revenues.

Agreements that Transfer Economic Benefits of the VIEs to the Group

Exclusive Consulting and Technical Support Agreement. Pursuant to an exclusive consulting and technical support agreement between the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries and the respective VIEs, the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries provide the respective VIEs with a series of consulting and technical support services and are entitled to receive related fees. The term of this exclusive technical support agreement will expire upon dissolution of the VIEs. Unless expressly provided by this agreement, without prior written consent of the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries, the VIEs may not engage any third party to provide the services offered by the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries under this agreement.

Agreements that Provide Effective Control over VIEs

Exclusive Call Option Agreement. Each of shareholders of the VIEs has entered into an exclusive call option agreement with the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries. Pursuant to these agreements, each of the shareholders of the VIEs has granted an irrevocable and unconditional option to the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries or their designees to acquire all or part of such shareholder’s equity interests in VIEs at its sole discretion, to the extent as permitted by PRC laws and regulations then in effect. The consideration for such acquisition of all equity interests in the VIEs will be equal to the registered capital of the VIEs, and if PRC law requires the consideration to be greater than the registered capital, the consideration will be the minimum amount as permitted by PRC law. In addition, the VIEs irrevocably and unconditionally granted the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries an exclusive option to purchase, to the extent permitted under the PRC law, all or part of the assets of the VIEs. The exercise price for purchasing the assets of the VIEs will be equal to their respective book values, and if PRC law requires the price to be greater than the book value, the price will be the minimum amount as permitted by PRC law. The call option may be exercised by the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries or their designees.

Loan Agreement. Under the loan agreement among shareholders of the VIEs and the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries, the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries granted an interest-free loan to the shareholders of the VIEs, solely for their purchase of the equity interest of the VIEs, investing or operating activities conducted in the VIEs. Each loan agreement will be due upon the earlier of twenty years from the date of execution or the expiration of the term of business of VIEs.

Shareholder Voting Right Proxy Agreement. Each of the shareholders of the VIEs irrevocably grant any person designated by the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries the power to exercise all voting rights to which he will be entitled to as shareholder of the VIEs at that time, including the right to declare dividends, appoint and elect board members and senior management members and other voting rights.

Each shareholder voting right proxy agreement has a term of twenty years, unless it is early terminated by all parties in writing or pursuant to provision of this agreement. The term of the agreement will be automatically extended for one year upon the expiration, if the Foreign Owned Subsidiary gives the other parties written notice requiring the extension at least 30 days prior to expiration and the same mechanism will apply subsequently upon the expiration of each extended term.

Equity Pledge Agreement. Each of the shareholders of the VIEs has also entered into an equity pledge agreement with the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries. Pursuant to which these shareholders pledged their respective equity interest in the VIEs to guarantee the performance of the obligations of the VIEs. The Foreign Owned Subsidiaries, as pledgee, will be entitled to certain rights, including the right to sell the pledged equity interests. Pursuant to the equity pledge agreement, each shareholder of the VIEs cannot transfer, sell, pledge, dispose of or otherwise create any new encumbrance on their respective equity interest in the VIEs without the prior written consent of the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries. The equity pledge right enjoyed by the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries will expire when shareholders of the VIEs have fully performed their respective obligations under the above agreements. The equity pledges of the VIEs have been registered with the relevant local branch of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, or SAIC.

Risks in relation to the VIE structure

The Company believes that the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries’ contractual arrangements with the VIEs are in compliance with PRC law and are legally enforceable. However, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit the Company’s ability to enforce these contractual arrangements and the interests of the shareholders of the VIEs may diverge from that of the Company and that may potentially increase the risk that they would seek to act contrary to the contractual terms, for example by influencing the VIEs not to pay the service fees when required to do so.

The Company’s ability to control the VIEs also depends on the power of attorney the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries have to vote on all matters requiring shareholder approval in the VIEs. As noted above, the Company believes this power of attorney is legally enforceable but may not be as effective as direct equity ownership.

In addition, if the legal structure and contractual arrangements were found to be in violation of any existing PRC laws and regulations, the Company may be subject to fines or other actions. The Company does not believe such actions would result in the liquidation or dissolution of the Company, the Foreign Owned Subsidiaries or the VIEs.

The Company, through its subsidiaries and through the contractual arrangements, has (1) the power to direct the activities of the VIEs that most significantly affect the entity’s economic performance and (2) the right to receive benefits from the VIEs. Accordingly, the Company is the primary beneficiary of the VIEs and has consolidated the financial results of the VIEs.

The following financial statement amounts and balances of the Group’s VIEs were included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, after elimination of inter-company balances and transactions:

	As of December 31,
	2015	2016
	$	$
Cash and cash equivalents	59,170,627	89,160,450
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	111,300,756	62,212,257
Customer deposits	38,710,027	12,061,362
Amounts due from related parties	13,238,930	1,259,992
Other current assets	14,372,034	1,374,518

Total current assets	236,792,374	166,068,579
Total non-current assets	50,431,189	51,697,208

Total assets	287,223,563	217,765,787

Accounts payable	327,140	1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	34,784,706	29,742,853
Income tax payable	27,599,392	29,890,262
Other tax payable	17,268,065	13,360,481
Amounts due to related parties	1,418,096	1,581,349
Advance from customers	5,366,944	4,960,924
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses	733,473	6,271,191
Liability for unpaid consideration of acquiring non-controlling interest	7,338,593	—
Other current liabilities	6,340,375	6,809,176

Total current liabilities	101,176,784	94,189,856
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	523,874	533,401

Total liabilities	101,700,658	94,723,257

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Total revenues	484,511,682		558,714,556		540,838,424
Cost of revenues	(41,218,756	)	(48,032,280	)	(45,641,656	)
Net income	2,532,232		3,307,694		2,286,007
Net cash provided by operating activities	57,761,765		41,577,844		43,652,445
Net cash used in investing activities	(10,927,762	)	(13,884,075	)	(1,945,215	)
Net cash used in financing activities	(14,418,056	)	(59,873,366	)	(6,782,336	)

There are no consolidated VIEs’ assets that are collateral for the VIEs’ obligations or are restricted solely to settle the VIEs’ obligations. The Company has not provided any financial support that it was not previously contractually required to provide to the VIEs.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from such estimates. Significant accounting estimates reflected in the Group’s financial statements include useful lives and valuation of long-lived assets, evaluation of goodwill, allowance for doubtful accounts, assumptions related to share-based compensation arrangements, assumptions related to the consolidation of entities in which the Group holds variable interests, valuation allowance on deferred tax, and selling price hierarchy in multiple-deliverable revenue arrangements.

(d) Fair value of financial instruments

The Group may have certain of its financial assets and liabilities at fair value on a recurring basis. Fair value reflects the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining the fair value measurements for assets and liabilities required or permitted to be recorded at fair value, the Company considers the principal or most advantageous market in which it would transact and considers assumptions that market participants would use when pricing the asset or liability.

The Group applies a fair value hierarchy that requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. A financial instrument’s categorization within the fair value hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. There are three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data.

Level 3 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

Assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis are comprised of marketable securities. The Group uses quoted price in active markets (Level 1 investments) to determine the fair value of marketable securities.

There are no assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

For cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, customer deposits, other receivables, accounts payable, other payables, and amounts due from/to related parties, the carrying value approximates the fair value due to their short-term nature.

(e) Business combinations

Business combinations are recorded using the purchase method of accounting and, accordingly, the acquired assets and liabilities are recorded at their fair market value at the date of acquisition. Any excess of acquisition cost over the fair value of the acquired assets and liabilities, including identifiable intangible assets, is recorded as goodwill.

(f) Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash on hand and demand deposits, which are unrestricted as to withdrawal and use, and which have original maturities of three months or less.

(g) Marketable securities

Marketable securities include securities that are classified as trading securities. Trading securities represent equity securities that are bought and held principally for the purpose of selling them in the near term, and they are reported at fair value, with both unrealized and realized gains and losses reported in other income (loss). The fair value of marketable securities is based upon the quoted price in an active market for identical instruments (Level 1).

(h) Customer deposits

The Group provides online e-commerce services for customers. Some real estate developers require the Group to pay an upfront and refundable deposit to obtain the exclusive e-commerce services agreement of the real estate development projects. These deposits are refunded to the Group subject to certain pre-determined criteria specified in the contracts. Customer deposits are recorded as either current or non-current assets based on the Group’s estimate of the date of refund. As of December 31, 2016, all customer deposit are refundable within 12 months and none of them passed the original due date.

(i) Investment in affiliates

Affiliated companies are entities over which the Group has significant influence, but which it does not control. The Group generally considers an ownership interest of 20% in common stock or higher to represent a presumption that they are able to exert significant influence.

Investments in affiliates are accounted for by the equity method of accounting. Under this method, the Group’s share of the post-acquisition profits or losses of affiliated companies is recognized in the income statement and its share of post-acquisition movements in other comprehensive income is recognized in other comprehensive income. Unrealized gains on transactions between the Group and its affiliated companies are eliminated to the extent of the Group’s interest in the affiliated companies; unrealized losses are also eliminated unless the transaction provides evidence of an impairment of the asset transferred. When the Group’s share of losses in an affiliated company equals or exceeds its interest in the affiliated company, the Group does not recognize further losses, unless the Group has incurred obligations or made payments on behalf of the affiliated company.

The Group is required to perform an impairment assessment of its investments whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the investment may not be fully recoverable. An impairment loss is recorded when there has been a loss in value of the investment that is other than temporary. The Group has not recorded any impairment losses in any of the periods reported. As of December 31, 2015 and 2016, the Group determined that no such events were present.

(j) Property and equipment, net

Property and equipment is recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives:

Leasehold improvements		Over the shorter of the lease term or their estimated useful lives
Buildings		30 years
Furniture, fixtures and equipment		3-5 years
Motor vehicles		5 years

Gains and losses from the disposal of property and equipment are included in income from operations.

(k) Intangible assets, net

Acquired intangible assets mainly consist of advertising agency agreement and license agreements with SINA, exclusive rights with Baidu, Inc. (“Baidu”), customer relationships, Database license, and non-compete agreements from business combinations and are recorded at fair value on the acquisition date. All intangible assets, with the exception of customer relationships, are amortized ratably over the contract period. Intangible assets resulting out of acquired customer relationships are amortized based on the timing of the revenue expected to be derived from the respective customer.

(l) Impairment of long-lived assets

The Group evaluates its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. When these events occur, the Group measures impairment by comparing the carrying amount of the assets to future undiscounted net cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. If the sum of the expected undiscounted cash flow is less than the carrying amount of the assets, the Group would recognize an impairment loss equal to the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of the assets.

(m) Impairment of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets

The Group performs an annual goodwill impairment test comprised of two steps. The first step compares the fair value of the Group to its carrying amount, including goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets. If the fair value of the Group exceeds its carrying amount, goodwill is not considered to be impaired and the second step will not be required. If the carrying amount of the Group exceeds its fair value, the second step compares the implied fair value of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets to the carrying value of the Group’s goodwill. The implied fair value of goodwill is determined in a manner similar to accounting for a business combination with the allocation of the assessed fair value determined in the first step to the assets and liabilities of the Group. The excess of the fair value of the Group over the amounts assigned to the assets and liabilities is the implied fair value of goodwill. This allocation process is only performed for purposes of evaluating goodwill impairment and does not result in an entry to adjust the value of any assets or liabilities. An impairment loss is recognized for any excess in the carrying value of goodwill over the implied fair value of goodwill.

Management performs a goodwill impairment test at the Group level as of December 31 of each year or when there is a triggering event causing management to believe it is more likely than not that the carrying amount of goodwill may be impaired.

Intangible assets with an indefinite life are tested for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. The impairment test consists of a comparison of the fair value of the intangible asset to its carrying amount. If the carrying amount exceeds the fair value, an impairment loss is recognized equal in amount to that excess.

(n) Income taxes

Deferred income taxes are recognized for temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities, and their reported amounts in the financial statements, net operating loss carry forwards and credits by applying enacted statutory tax rates applicable to future years when the reported amounts of the asset or liability are expected to be recovered or settled, respectively. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Current income taxes are provided for in accordance with the laws of the relevant taxing authorities.

The Group only recognizes tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions when such positions are more likely than not of being sustained upon examination. For such positions, the amount of tax benefit that the Group recognizes is the largest amount of tax benefit that is more than fifty percent likely of being sustained upon the ultimate settlement of such uncertain position. The Group records interest and penalties as a component of income tax expense.

(o) Share-based compensation

Share-based compensation cost is measured on the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and recognized as an expense over the requisite service period. Management has made an estimate of expected forfeitures and recognizes compensation cost only for those equity awards expected to vest.

(p) Revenue recognition

The Group recognizes revenue when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, service has been rendered, the sales price is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. Revenues are recorded, net of sales related taxes.

The Group generates real estate online revenues principally from e-commerce, online advertising, and listing services.

The Group e-commerce services primarily include discount coupon advertising and facilitating transactions. The Group provides property viewing and pre-sale customer support free of charge in connection with the sale of discount coupons. E-commerce revenues are principally generated from selling discount coupons to potential property buyers. Those discount coupons allow buyers to purchase specified properties from real estate developers at discounts greater than the face value of the fees charged by the Group. The discount coupons are refundable to the buyers at any time before they are used to purchase the specified properties. The Group recognizes such e-commerce revenues upon obtaining confirmation letters that prove the use of coupons by property buyers, and when collections are reasonably assured. Revenues are recognized based on the net proceeds received. The Group facilitates transactions on its proprietary platform for home furnishing business and earns commissions from merchants that are generally determined as a percentage based on the value of merchandise being sold by the merchants. Revenue related to commissions is recognized in the consolidated income statements at the time when the underlying transaction is completed.

Revenue from online advertising services is generated principally from online advertising arrangements, sponsorship arrangements, and to a lesser extent, outsourcing arrangements, and keyword advertising arrangements. Online advertising arrangements allow advertisers to place advertisements on particular areas of the Group’s websites, in particular formats and over particular periods of time. Advertising revenues from online advertising arrangements are recognized ratably over the contract period of display when collectability is reasonably assured. Sponsorship arrangements allow advertisers to sponsor a particular area on the Group’s websites in exchange for a fixed payment over the contract period. Advertising revenues from sponsorship arrangements are recognized ratably over the contract period. The Group also generates online advertising revenues from outsourcing certain regional sites for a fixed period of time to local outsourcing partners, who are responsible for both website operation and related advertising sales. Advertising revenues from hosted websites are recognized ratably over the term of the contract. Keyword advertising revenues are recognized ratably over the contract period when collectability is reasonably assured.

The Group also provides listing services to real estate brokers. Listing services entitle real estate brokers to post and make changes to information for properties in a particular area on the website for a specified period of time, in exchange for a fixed fee. Listing revenues are recognized ratably over the contract period of display when collectability is reasonably assured.

There are no multiple elements arrangements within the services provided by the Group. However, E-House has multiple element arrangements that may include provision of online advertising services provided by the Group. The total amounts of revenue earned by the Group related to agreements that have been accounted for as multiple element arrangements by E-House were $4,836,931, $3,689,272, and $7,191,725 in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Deferred revenues are recognized when payments are received in advance of revenue recognition.

(q) Cost of revenue

Cost of revenue consists of costs associated with the production of websites, which includes fees paid to third parties for internet connection, content and services, editorial personnel related costs, amortization of intangible assets, depreciation associated with website production equipment and fees paid to SINA and other platforms for advertising resources.

(r) Marketing and advertising expenses

Marketing and advertising expenses consists primarily of targeted online and offline marketing costs for promoting our e-commerce projects, increasing our visibility and building our brand, such as Leju property visit, sponsored marketing campaigns, online or print advertising, public relations and sponsored events. The Company expenses all marketing advertising costs as incurred and record these costs within “Selling, general and administrative expenses” on the consolidated statements of operations when incurred. The nature of the Company’s direct marketing activities is such that they are intended to attract subscribers for the online advertising and potential property buyers to purchase the discount coupons. The Group incurred marketing and advertising expenses amounting to $196,396,734, $306,846,482 and $345,862,479 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

(s) Foreign currency translation

The functional currency of the Company is the United States dollar (“U.S. dollar”) and is used as the reporting currency of the Group. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollar at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Equity accounts are translated at historical exchange rates and revenues, expenses, gains and losses are translated using the average rate for the year. Translation adjustments are reported as foreign currency translation adjustment and are shown as a separate component of other comprehensive income in the consolidated statements of changes in equity and comprehensive income.

The financial records of certain of the Company’s subsidiaries are maintained in local currencies other than the U.S. dollar, such as Renminbi (“RMB”) and Hong Kong dollar (“HKD”), which are their functional currencies. Transactions in other currencies are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing when the transactions occur. Transaction gains and losses are recognized in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Group recorded an exchange gain $88,721, $156,641 and $64,650 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively, as a component of other income, net.

(t) Government subsidies

Government subsidies include cash subsidies received by the Company’s subsidiaries in the PRC from local governments. These subsidies are generally provided as incentives for conducting business in certain local districts and are typically granted based on the amount of value-added tax, business tax, and income tax payment generated by the Group in certain local districts. Such subsidies allow the Group full discretion in utilizing the funds and are used by the Group for general corporate purpose. The local governments have final discretion as to the amount of cash subsidies. Cash subsidies of $2,525,496, $3,567,965 and $4,586,746 were included in other operating income for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. Subsidies are recognized when cash is received and when all the conditions for their receipt have been satisfied.

(u) Concentration of credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially expose the Group to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and customer deposit. The Group places its cash and cash equivalents with reputable financial institutions.

The Group regularly reviews the creditworthiness of its customers, and requires collateral or other security from its customers in certain circumstances when accounts receivables’ aging is over one year. The Group establishes an allowance for doubtful accounts primarily based upon factors surrounding the credit risk of specific customers, including creditworthiness of the clients, aging of the receivables and other specific circumstances related to the accounts.

Movement of the allowance for doubtful accounts for accounts receivable is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	9,353,689		15,471,020		26,350,814
Provisions for doubtful accounts	11,599,708		18,959,895		14,797,072
Write offs	(5,437,380	)	(6,827,314	)	(8,081,575	)
Changes due to foreign exchange	(44,997	)	(1,252,787	)	(1,905,971	)

Balance as of December 31	15,471,020		26,350,814		31,160,340

The allowance for other receivables was nil for all periods presented.

(v) Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share are computed by dividing income attributable to holders of ordinary shares by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period.

Diluted earnings per ordinary share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue ordinary shares were exercised or converted into ordinary shares.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted income per share for the periods indicated:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted	$	66,520,894	$	35,330,089	$	(9,788,839	)

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic	129,320,666		134,528,971		135,220,210
Stock options	3,181,434		1,695,003		—

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted	132,502,100		136,223,974		135,220,210


Basic earnings (loss) per share	$	0.51	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)


Diluted earnings (loss) per share	$	0.50	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)

Diluted earnings per share do not include the following instruments as their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
Share options and restricted shares	—	2,464,500	7,746,383

(w) Non-controlling interest

Non-controlling interest are classified as a separate line item in the equity section and disclosures in the Company’s consolidated financial statements have distinguished the interest of Leju from the interest of non-controlling interest holders.

(x) Comprehensive income

Comprehensive income includes all changes in equity except those resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners. For the years presented, total comprehensive income included net income and foreign currency translation adjustments.

(y) Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncement

In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes which simplifies the presentation of deferred taxes on the balance sheet by requiring classification of all deferred tax items as noncurrent including valuation allowances by jurisdiction. The ASU is effective for public entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of any interim or annual reporting period. The Group has early adopted the ASU in the year ended December 31, 2016.

(z) Recently issued accounting pronouncements

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)” which amended the existing accounting standards for revenue recognition. The core principle of the new guidance is for companies to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in amounts that reflect the consideration (that is, payment) to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new guidance also will result in enhanced disclosures about revenue, provide guidance for transactions that were not previously addressed comprehensively (for example, service revenue and contract modifications) and improve guidance for multiple element arrangements. Subsequently, the FASB has issued the following standards related to ASU 2014-09: ASU 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing; ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients; and ASU 2016-20, Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The Company must adopt ASU 2016-10, ASU 2016-12 and ASU 2016-20 with ASU 2014-09 (collectively, the “new revenue standards”). The new revenue standards become effective on January 1, 2018. The ASU will not materially impact on the Group’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In January 2016, FASB issued ASU 2016-01, “Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10)” to improve the recognition and measurement of financial instruments. The new guidance requires equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting, or those that result in consolidation of the investee) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income and separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset (i.e., securities or loans and receivables) on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements. The guidance also eliminates the requirement to disclose the fair value of financial instruments measured at amortized cost for organizations that are not public business entities and the requirement for public business entities to disclose the method(s) and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet. The new guidance is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)”. This update requires an entity to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and to disclose key information about the entity’s leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 is effective for annual reporting periods, and interim periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early application permitted. A modified retrospective approach is required. The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-07, which eliminates the requirement to retroactively adopt the equity method of accounting. The amendments require that the equity method investor add the cost of acquiring the additional interest in the investee to the current basis of the investor’s previously held interest and adopt the equity method of accounting as of the date the investment becomes qualified for equity method accounting. The amendments in this Update are effective for all entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2016. The amendments should be applied prospectively upon their effective date to increases in the level of ownership interest or degree of influence that result in the adoption of the equity method The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact of adoption of this guidance on the consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, which amends the principal-versus-agent implementation guidance and illustrations in the Board’s new revenue standard (ASC 606). The amendments in this update clarify the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations. When another party, along with the reporting entity, is involved in providing goods or services to a customer, an entity is required to determine whether the nature of its promise is to provide that good or service to the customer (as a principal) or to arrange for the good or service to be provided to the customer by the other party (as an agent). The guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The ASU will not materially impact on the Group’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In March, 2016, the FASB issued ASU2016-09, “Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718) Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting”. This guidance is intended to simplify the employee share-based payment accounting regarding several aspects, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. For public business entities, the amendments in this ASU are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption is permitted for any entity in any interim or annual period. If an entity early adopts the amendments in an interim period, any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. An entity that elects early adoption must adopt all of the amendments in the same period. The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Credit Losses, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments”. This ASU significantly changes how entities will measure credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net income. The standard will replace today’s incurred loss approach with an expected loss model for instruments measured at amortized cost. Entities will apply the standard’s provisions as a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective. This ASU is effective for public entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for all entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods therein. The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In August 2016, FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments”. This amendment provides guidance on eight targeted areas and how they are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and will require adoption on a retrospective basis. The Group is in the process of assessing the impact of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements.

In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, “Statement of Cash Flows, Restricted Cash”, which clarifies guidance on the classification and presentation of restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 becomes effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this accounting pronouncement will impact the presentation of restricted cash in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The new guidance permits early adoption. The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business. The update affects all companies and other reporting organizations that must determine whether they have acquired or sold a business. The definition of a business affects many areas of accounting including acquisitions, disposals, goodwill, and consolidation. The update is intended to help companies and other organizations evaluate whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. The update provides a more robust framework to use in determining when a set of assets and activities is a business, and also provides more consistency in applying the guidance, reduce the costs of application, and make the definition of a business more operable. For public companies, the update is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those periods. The ASU will not impact on the Group’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. The update simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. The annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test is performed by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An impairment charge should be recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value. The update also eliminates the requirements for any reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount to perform a qualitative assessment and, if it fails that qualitative test, to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test. An entity still has the option to perform the qualitative assessment for a reporting unit to determine if the quantitative impairment test is necessary. The update should be applied on a prospective basis. The nature of and reason for the change in accounting principle should be disclosed upon transition. For public companies, the update is effective for any annual or interim goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. The Group will early adopt this guidance and is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests	12 Months Ended
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests	Dec. 31, 2016
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests	3. Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests There were 3 significant acquisitions of non-controlling interests completed in 2014. As a result of the below transactions, the equity attributable to Leju’s shareholders is decreased by $32,469,069 in the year ended December 31, 2014. In January 2014, the Group entered into an equity transfer agreement with two individual shareholders of Beijing Lotta Times Advertising Co., Ltd (“Beijing Lotta”), a subsidiary of Beijing Leju, to purchase the remaining 40% shares of Beijing Lotta that it did not already own with a total consideration of $16,254,600 (RMB100,000,000). After the acquisition, Beijing Lotta became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Group. As the Group retains the controlling interest in Beijing Lotta before and after the acquisition, the acquisition was accounted for as an equity transaction. The carrying amount of the non-controlling interest in the subsidiary was adjusted to reflect the change in Group’s ownership interest in Beijing Lotta. Any difference between the fair value of the consideration paid and the amount by which the non-controlling interest was adjusted was recognized in equity. As a result of the transaction, $15,112,828 additional paid capital and $1,141,772 non-controlling interest were derecognized in the year ended December 31, 2014. As of December 31, 2015 and 2016, $3,387,956 (RMB22,000,000) and nil was unpaid, respectively. In September 2014, the Group entered into an equity transfer agreement with six individual shareholders (five of them are employees of the Group) of Beijing Yisheng Leju Advertising Co., Ltd (“Beijing Leju Advertisement”) and Yisheng Leju (Shanghai) Information Service Co., Ltd.( “Yisheng Shanghai”), two subsidiaries of Beijing Leju, to purchase the remaining 24.5% shares of Beijing Leju Advertisement and Yisheng Shanghai that it did not own with a total consideration of $19,074,412 (RMB117,355,000). Considerations to the five employees shareholders are $16,054,493 (RMB98,775,000) for 19.5% equity interest, equivalent to $823,307 per 1% equity interest, while the consideration for the rest 5.0% to the non-employee shareholder is $3,019,919 (RMB18,580,000), equivalent to $603,984 per 1% of equity interest. In connection with the equity transfer, the five employees are also required to serve for the Group for two years from the closing date of the transaction. The Group considers the purchase price to the nonemployee shareholder represent fair value of the equity interest on the date of transfer. The consideration premium of $4,276,810 paid to the employee shareholders was treated as share-based compensation to be amortized over the 2-year service period. After the acquisition, Beijing Leju Advertisement and Yisheng Shanghai became wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Group. As the Group retains the controlling interest in Beijing Leju Advertisement and Yisheng Shanghai before and after the acquisition, the acquisition was accounted for as an equity transaction. The carrying amount of the non-controlling interest in two subsidiaries was adjusted to reflect the change in Group’s ownership interest in them. Any difference between the fair value of the consideration paid and the amount by which the non-controlling interest was adjusted was recognized in equity. As a result of the equity transaction, $12,906,772 additional paid capital and $1,890,830 non-controlling interest were derecognized in the year ended December 31, 2014. As of December 31, 2015 and 2016, $3,706,648 and nil was unpaid, respectively. In September 2014, the Group entered into an equity transfer agreement with an individual shareholder of Tianjin Yisheng Leju Advertising Co., Ltd (“Tianjin Leju”), a subsidiary of Beijing Leju, to purchase the remaining 30% shares of Tianjin Leju that it did not own with a total consideration of $4,685,913 (RMB28,830,000). After the acquisition, Tianjin Leju becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Group. As the Group retains the controlling interest in Tianjin Leju before and after the acquisition, the acquisition was accounted for as an equity transaction. The carrying amount of the non-controlling interest in the subsidiary was adjusted to reflect the change in Group’s ownership interest in Tianjin Leju. Any difference between the fair value of the consideration paid and the amount by which the non-controlling interest was adjusted was recognized in equity. As a result of the transaction, $4,449,469 additional paid capital and $236,444 non-controlling interest were derecognized in the year ended December 31, 2014. As of December 31, 2015 and 2016, $243,989 and nil was unpaid, respectively.

Property and Equipment, Net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Property and Equipment, Net

Property and Equipment, Net

4. Property and Equipment, Net

Property and equipment, net consists of the following:

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	12,492,343		14,129,811
Leasehold improvements	5,490,605		5,969,254
Buildings	633,646		593,146
Motor vehicles	1,737,572		1,717,806


Total	20,354,166		22,410,017
Accumulated depreciation	(13,553,552	)	(14,486,990	)


Property and equipment, net	6,800,614		7,923,027

Depreciation expenses were $3,030,451, $2,626,264 and $2,579,726 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Intangible Assets, Net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Intangible Assets, Net

Intangible Assets, Net

5. Intangible Assets, Net

	As of December 31,		Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period in Years
	2015	2016
	$	$
Intangible assets subject to amortization are comprised of the following:
Advertising agency agreement with SINA	106,790,000	106,790,000	7.25
License agreements with SINA	80,660,000	80,660,000	7.25
Exclusive rights with Baidu	54,096,827	50,639,152	—
Customer relationship	10,538,309	10,269,891	2.69
Database license	8,300,000	8,300,000	1.25
Non-compete agreements	1,575,336	1,489,800	—
Computer software licenses	1,023,321	1,056,540	2.63


	262,983,793	259,205,383	7.07
Less: Accumulated amortization
Advertising agency agreement	57,341,459	63,396,382
License agreements with SINA	43,881,281	48,384,797
Exclusive rights with Baidu	54,096,827	50,639,152
Customer relationship	8,424,820	8,975,366
Database license	6,102,942	7,079,413
Non-compete agreements	1,575,336	1,489,800
Computer software licenses	824,300	866,857


Intangible assets subject to amortization, net	90,736,828	78,373,616


Total intangible assets, net	90,736,828	78,373,616

The advertising agency agreement and license agreements with SINA were recognized in connection with the Group’s acquisition of COHT in 2009, which allows the Group to operate SINA’s existing real estate and home furnishing related channels and have the exclusive right to sell advertising relating to real estate, home furnishing and construction materials on these channels as well as SINA’s other websites through 2019. If the Group sells advertising on SINA’s websites other than above channels, it will pay SINA fees of approximately 15% of the revenues generated from these sales. The acquisition cost was recognized as an intangible asset and amortized over the term of the agreement. In March 2014, the advertising agency agreement and license agreements originally signed between Leju and SINA in 2009 were extended an additional five years to March 2024 for no additional consideration. All other terms of the agreements remain the same.

In 2011, the Group purchased exclusive rights from Baidu, Inc (“Baidu”) which allow it to sell Baidu’s real estate related Brand Link product, which is a form of keyword advertising, and to use and operate Baidu’s exclusive real estate-related web channel for $47,612,100 through August 2014. In October 2013, the Group extended these rights with Baidu to March 2015, without paying additional consideration. The payment schedule of the remaining liability for exclusive rights was also deferred through the extension period. The fair value of $43,847,992 was recognized in 2011 and calculated by discounting the future cash payments to be made from 2012 to 2014. The difference between the fair value and the principal amount of $3,764,108 is being amortized using the effective interest method over the term of the exclusive rights and amounted to $52,922, nil and nil for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

In April 2015, the Group extended these rights with Baidu from April to December 2015, with additional payment of $12,023,475 (RMB75,000,000).

The Group paid $9,004,710, $12,023,475 and nil in connection with the exclusive rights in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Amortization expenses were $23,088,327, $26,653,571 and $12,426,950 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. The Group expects to record amortization expenses of $12,220,078, $11,327,942, $10,813,544, $10,576,991 and $10,558,440 for the years ending December 31, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Goodwill

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Goodwill

Goodwill

6. Goodwill

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016 are as follows:

	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	40,610,620		40,563,075		39,807,243
Exchange rate translation	(47,545	)	(755,832	)	(789,185	)


Balance as of December 31	40,563,075		39,807,243		39,018,058

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Goodwill, gross	457,629,547		456,840,362
Accumulated impairment charge	(417,822,304	)	(417,822,304	)


Goodwill, net	39,807,243		39,018,058

The Group utilized the income approach valuation method (Level 3) to compute the fair value of the Group. The key assumptions used in the income approach, which requires significant management judgment, include forecasted cash flows which consider the historical financial trends, business growth rate and market share, as well as terminal value and discount rate. Significant increases in discount rate or decrease in terminal value in isolation would result in a significantly lower fair value measurement.

Based on the impairment tests performed, there was no goodwill impairment charged for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Other Income, Net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Other Income, Net

Other Income, Net

8. Other Income, Net

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015	2016
	$		$	$
Amortized discounts related to liability for exclusive rights	(52,922	)	—	—
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	—		—	180,112
Foreign exchange gain	88,721		156,641	64,650
Others	—		133,398	374,988


Total	35,799		290,039	619,750

Income Tax

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Tax

Income Tax

9. Income Tax

The following table summarizes Income (loss) before income taxes incurred in the PRC and outside of the PRC:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Income (loss) before income taxes:
PRC	111,905,366		70,382,855		8,742,444
Outside of PRC	(29,476,625	)	(25,041,651	)	(22,186,499	)


Total	82,428,741		45,341,204		(13,444,055	)

The expense (benefit) for income taxes is comprised of:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Current Tax
PRC	17,905,374		17,990,790		13,331,921
Outside of PRC	10,072		17,425		16,686


	17,915,446		18,008,215		13,348,607


Deferred Tax
PRC	(2,369,482	)	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)
Outside of PRC	—		—		—


	(2,369,482	)	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)


Income tax expense (benefit)	15,545,964		10,307,322		(2,067,739	)

The Company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, which is exempted from tax.

Enterprise Income Tax Law in China applies a statutory 25% enterprise income tax rate to both foreign invested enterprises and domestic enterprises.

Shanghai SINA Leju was granted status as a high and new technology enterprise and was entitled to enjoy a favorable statutory tax rate of 15% from 2013 through 2014. Shanghai SINA Leju renewed its qualification of high and new technology enterprise in 2015 and was entitled to enjoy a favorable statutory tax rate of 15% from 2015 through 2017.

In February 2012, Shanghai Fangxin information technology Co., Ltd., the Group’s subsidiary in China, was granted software enterprise status, which exempted it from income taxes for 2012 and 2013 and provided a 50% reduction in its income tax rate, or a rate of 12.5%, from 2014 through 2016.

The Group’s subsidiaries in Hong Kong are subject to a profit tax at the rate of 16.5% on assessable profit determined under relevant Hong Kong tax regulations. The Company’s subsidiaries incorporated in the BVI are not subject to taxation.

The Group does not have uncertain tax positions in accordance with ASC740-10, nor does it anticipate any significant increase to its liability for unrecognized tax benefit within next 12 months. The Group will classify interest and penalties related to income tax matters, if any, in income tax expense.

According to the PRC Tax Administration and Collection Law, the statute of limitations is three years if the underpayment of taxes is due to tax authority’s mistake or due to computational errors made by the taxpayer. The statute of limitations will be extended to five years under special circumstances, which are not clearly defined, but an underpayment of tax liability exceeding RMB100,000 ($14,416) is specifically listed as a special circumstance. In the case of a transfer pricing related adjustment, the statute of limitations is 10 years. There is no statute of limitations in the case of tax evasion.

The principal components of the deferred income tax assets/liabilities are as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued salary expenses	11,248,353		10,298,156
Bad debt provision	6,587,704		7,790,085
Net operating loss carry forwards	3,787,766		9,421,817
Advertising expenses temporarily non-deductible	11,307,976		13,811,900
Others	492,160		568,874

Gross deferred tax assets	33,423,959		41,890,832
Valuation allowance	(654,267	)	(192,536	)

Total deferred tax assets	32,769,692		41,698,296


Deferred tax liabilities:
Amortization of intangible and other assets	22,997,731		18,869,374

Total deferred tax liabilities	22,997,731		18,869,374

Movement of the valuation allowance is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	(1,051,973	)	(957,162	)	(654,267	)
Reverse (additions)	—		255,264		(686	)
Write off	90,811		—		409,467
Changes due to exchange rate translation	4,000		47,631		52,950

Balance as of December 31	(957,162	)	(654,267	)	(192,536	)

The Group has recognized a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets on tax loss carry forwards of nil, and $686 for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2016, respectively, and reversed $255,264 for the year ended December 31, 2015.

The Group assesses the available positive and negative evidence to estimate if sufficient future taxable income will be generated to use the existing deferred tax assets. A significant piece of objective negative evidence evaluated was the cumulative loss incurred over the three year period ended December 31, 2016. Such objective evidence limits the Group’s ability to consider other subjective evidence such as our projections for future growth.

On the basis of this evaluation, as of December 31, 2016, a valuation allowance of $192,536 was recorded to reflect only the portion of the deferred tax assets that is not more likely than not to be realized. The amount of the deferred tax assets considered realizable, however, could be adjusted if estimates of future taxable income during the carry forwards period are reduced or increased or if objective negative evidence in the form of cumulative losses is no longer present and additional weight may be given to subjective evidence such as our projections for growth.

Reconciliation between the provision for income tax computed by applying the statutory tax rate to income before income taxes and the actual provision for income taxes is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
PRC income tax rate	25.00	%	25.00	%	25.00	%
Share based compensation expenses not deductible for tax purposes	3.27	%	5.17	%	(19.17	)%
Other expenses not deductible for tax purposes	0.72	%	3.71	%	(4.30	)%
Effect of tax holiday	(13.69	)%	(13.18	)%	5.19	%
Effect of different tax rate of subsidiary operation in other jurisdiction	1.08	%	2.05	%	(2.11	)%
Effect of different tax rate of DTA and DTL applied	2.29	%	(2.37	)%	17.58	%
Valuation allowance movement	—		(0.56	)%	(0.01	)%
Withholding tax	0.19	%	2.91	%	(6.80	)%

	18.86	%	22.73	%	15.38	%

The aggregate amount and per share effect of the tax holiday are as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
	$	$	$
The aggregate dollar effect	11,285,429	5,977,806	697,559
Per share effect—basic	0.09	0.04	0.01
Per share effect—diluted	0.09	0.04	0.01

As of December 31, 2015 and 2016, the Group had tax operating loss carry forwards of $15,151,067 and $37,687,269, respectively. These tax losses are available for offset against future profits that may be carried forward until calendar year 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Undistributed earnings of the Company’s PRC subsidiaries of approximately $247,853,947 at December 31, 2016 are considered to be indefinitely reinvested and, accordingly, no provision for PRC dividend withholding tax has been provided thereon. Upon distribution of those earnings generated after January 1, 2008, in the form of dividends or otherwise, the Group would be subject to the then applicable PRC tax laws and regulations. The amounts of unrecognized deferred tax liabilities for these earnings are in the range of $12,392,698 to $24,785,395, as the withholding tax rate of the profit distribution will be 5% or 10% depends on whether the immediate offshore companies can enjoy the preferential withholding tax rate of 5%.

Income tax payable balance of the Group represents the actual cash tax payments to be made by the legal entities within the Group. Income tax provision reflected in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations is calculated based on a separate return basis as if the Group had filed a separate tax return, which has considered the impact of general corporate expenses allocated from E-House. The difference between the income tax provision on a separate return basis and the tax liability accrued was reflected as deemed distribution to E-House associated with tax liability in the consolidated statements of changes in equity before the IPO. Such difference amounted to $571,227 for the period from January 1, 2014 to the IPO date, respectively.

Share-Based Compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Share-Based Compensation

Share-Based Compensation

10. Share-Based Compensation

Leju Plan

In November 2013, the Group adopted a share incentive plan (“Leju Plan”), which allows the Group to offer a variety of share-based incentive awards to employees, officers, directors and individual consultants who render services to the Group. Under the Leju Plan, the maximum number of shares that may be issued shall be 8% of the total outstanding shares on an as-converted and fully diluted basis as of the effective date of the plan, and shall be increased automatically by 5% of the then total outstanding shares on an as-converted fully diluted basis on each of the third, sixth and ninth anniversaries of the effective date of the Leju Plan. On December 1, 2016, the award pool under leju plan was automatically increased by 7,533,422 ordinary shares. Options have a ten-year life.

Share Options:

In January, 2014, the Company granted 60,000 restricted shares to an E-House employee to replace the same number of options previously granted under the Leju plan, with all other terms unchanged. The purchase price of the restricted shares is $4.60 per share, which were the exercise prices of the options that were replaced. The modification did not result in any incremental compensation expense. Cash received from the advance payment of the restricted shares are recorded as an amount due to related parties.

During 2015, the Company granted 2,517,000 options to purchase its ordinary shares to certain of the Group’s employees and E-House’s employees at an exercise prices from $5.54 to $9.68 per share, respectively. The options expire ten years from the date of grant and vest ratably at each grant date anniversary over a period of three years.

The Company has used the binomial model to estimate the fair value of the options granted under the Leju Plan. The fair value per option was estimated at the date of grant using the following assumptions:

	2015
Risk-free rate of return	2.14	%
Contractual life of option	10 years
Estimated volatility rate	62.82	%
Dividend yield	2.56	%

A summary of option activity under the Leju Plan during the year ended December 31, 2016 is presented below:

	Number of Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Weighted Average Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	8,063,718		5.12	8.50	4,806,104
Granted	—
Exercised	(66,424	)	4.60		43,253
Forfeited	(250,911	)	5.83

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	7,746,383		5.11	7.50	—

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2016	7,660,828		5.09	7.48	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2016	6,190,050		4.82	7.16	—

The weighted average grant-date fair value of the options granted in 2015 was $3.44 per share. For the year ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, the Company recorded compensation expenses of $3,464,140, $4,025,809 and $5,576,034 for the share options granted to the Group’s employees and recorded deemed distribution to E-House of $1,061,412, $1,070,383 and $883,286 for the share options granted to E-House’s employees, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, 266,201, 196,185 and 66,424 options were exercised having a total intrinsic value of $1,668,693, $949,907 and $43,253, respectively.

As of December 31, 2016, there was $4,856,551 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested share options granted under the Leju Plan. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.83 years.

Restricted Shares:

On March 18, 2014, the Company granted 866,000 restricted shares to certain employees, directors and officers, under the terms of each restricted shares, restricted shares vest over three years. On August 21, 2014, the Company granted 229,400 restricted shares to certain employees and officers, under the terms of each restricted shares, restricted shares vest over eight months.

A summary of restricted share activity under the Leju Plan during the year ended December 31, 2016 is presented below:

	Number of Restricted Shares		Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	797,336		8.82
Granted	—
Vested	(506,664	)	7.38
Forfeited	(30,668	)	11.34

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	260,004		11.33

The total fair value of restricted shares vested in 2014, 2015 and 2016 was $486,200, $7,179,455 and $3,737,772, respectively.

For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, the Company recorded compensation expenses of $4,881,656, $5,273,322 and $3,248,658 for the restricted shares granted to the Group’s employees and recorded deemed distribution to E-House of $41,570, $41,580 and $34,594 for the share options granted to E-House’s employees, respectively.

As of December 31, 2016, there was $691,160 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted shares granted under the Leju Plan. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 0.21 years.

Omnigold Plan:

In 2015, the Group’s subsidiary, Omnigold Holdings Limited (“Omnigold”), adopted a share incentive plan (“Omnigold Plan”), which proposed that (i) the maximum number of shares of Omnigold available for issuance pursuant to all awards under the Ominigold Plan shall initially be 5,000,000 as of the date of the Ominigold Plan was approved and adopted by the Board of Omnigold (the “Effective Dare”), and (ii) the Ominigold Plan shall be increased automatically by 5% of the then total issued and outstanding shares of Omnigold on an as-converted fully diluted basis on each of the third, sixth and ninth anniversary of the Effective Date.

On August 11, 2015, Omnigold granted 2,400,000 options to purchase its ordinary shares to certain of the Group’s employees at an exercise price of $1.50 per share. The options expire ten years from the date of grant and vest ratably at each grant date anniversary over a period of three years.

The Company has used the binomial model to estimate the fair value of the options granted under the Omnigold Plan. The fair value per option was estimated at the date of grant using the following assumptions:

	2015
Risk-free rate of return	3.33	%
Contractual life of option	10 years
Estimated volatility rate	63.69	%
Dividend yield	0.00	%

A summary of option activity under the Omnigold Plan during the year ended December 31, 2016 is presented below:

	Number of Options		Exercise Price	Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	2,270,000		1.50	9.61
Granted	—				—
Exercised	—
Forfeited	(65,000	)	1.50		—

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	2,205,000		1.50	8.61	—

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2016	2,056,473		1.50	8.61	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2016	756,667		1.50	8.61	—

The grant-date fair value of the options granted in August, 2015 was $0.30 per share. For the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2016, the Company recorded compensation expenses of $80,577 and $226,951.

As of December 31, 2016, there was $337,063 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested share options granted under the Omnigold Plan. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.61 years.

E-House’s Share Incentive Plan (the “E-House Plan”)

In 2006, E-House Holdings adopted the E-House Plan, which allows E-House Holdings to offer a variety of share-based incentive awards to employees, officers, directors and individual consultants who render services to E-house. Under the E-House Plan, E-House Holdings authorized 3,636,364 ordinary shares, or 5% of the then total shares outstanding, to grant as options or restricted shares over a three-year period. In October 2010, E-House Holdings authorized an increase of 4,013,619 ordinary shares to the award pool. In November 2012, E-House Holdings further authorized an increase of 1,273,000 ordinary shares to the award pool. In August, 2013, E-House Holdings authorized an increase of 6,644,659 ordinary shares to the award pool. Options have a ten-year life. Share options granted under the E-House Plan can be settled by the employee either by cash or net settled by shares.

Cancelation of E-House Plan

On August 2016, following the delisting of E-House Holdings, all the outstanding options and restricted shares of E-House Plan were converted into the right to receive an amount in cash equal to the purchase price of $6.85 over the option cost.

Share Options:

A summary of option activity under the E-House Plan during the year ended December 31, 2016 is presented below:

	Number of Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Weighted Average Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	8,956,283		4.67	4.80	14,509,178
Exercised	(153,734	)	3.95		371,082
Forfeited	(4,000	)	5.37		—
Redemption upon delisting	(8,798,549	)	4.69		—

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	—		—	—	—

E-House Holdings recorded compensation expense of $5,950,940, nil and nil for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, 3,446,585, 513,261 and 153,734 options were exercised having a total intrinsic value of $23,679,729, $1,745,007 and $371,082, respectively.

As of December 31, 2016, there is no unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested share options granted under the E-House Plan.

Restricted Shares:

E-House Holdings granted 1,439,000, nil and nil restricted shares to certain employees, directors and officers in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. Under the terms of each restricted shares, restricted shares vest over three years.

A summary of restricted share activity under the E-House Plan during the year ended December 31, 2016 is presented below:

	Number of Restricted Shares		Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
			$
Unvested as of January 1, 2016	1,358,715		8.50
Granted	—
Vested	(46,335	)	10.70
Forfeited	—
Redemption upon delisting	(1,312,380	)

Unvested as of December 31, 2016	—

The total fair value of restricted shares vested in 2014, 2015 and 2016 was $6,094,602, $9,909,868 and $495,644, respectively.

As of December 31, 2016, there was no unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted shares granted under the E-House Plan.

E-House Holdings recorded compensation expense of $6,174,583, $9,680,385 and $12,317,769 for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015 and 2016, respectively, related to restricted shares.

Share-based compensation expenses under E-House Plan allocated to the Group

The share-based compensation expense under E-House Plan allocated to the Group was $572,340 for the period from January 1, 2014 to the IPO date. These expenses are part of the selling, general and administrative expenses allocated from E-House, which were waived and have been reflected as capital contributions as of the date such expenses were originally allocated. Subsequent to the IPO, E-House began charging the Group transitional corporate service fees, $1,857,996, $1,066,477 and $1,254,915 share-based compensation expense under E-House Plan were charged to Leju from the IPO date to December 31, 2014 and for the years ended December 31, 2015 and, 2016, respectively. (See Note 14)

Other Equity Compensation

In September 2014, the Group acquired non-controlling interests from certain employee shareholders. The price premium paid over the fair value of the ordinary shares amounting $4,276,810 was recorded as share-based compensation costs and to be amortized over the required two-year service period (See Note 3). $2,138,404 and $1,603,805 stock compensation expense was recognized for the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2016. As of December 31, 2015 and 2016, there was $1,603,805 and nil of total unrecognized compensation expense related to this compensation agreement.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for compensation-related costs for equity-based compensation, which may include disclosure of policies, compensation plan details, allocation of equity compensation, incentive distributions, equity-based arrangements to obtain goods and services, deferred compensation arrangements, employee stock ownership plan details and employee stock purchase plan details.

+ References + Details

Employee Benefit Plans	12 Months Ended
Employee Benefit Plans	Dec. 31, 2016
Employee Benefit Plans
Employee Benefit Plans	11. Employee Benefit Plans The Group’s PRC subsidiaries and VIEs are required by law to contribute a certain percentages of applicable salaries for retirement benefits, medical insurance benefits, housing funds, unemployment and other statutory benefits. The PRC government is directly responsible for the payments of such benefits. The Group contributed $17,727,125, $20,413,820, and $22,350,656 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively, for such benefits.

Distribution of Profits	12 Months Ended
Distribution of Profits	Dec. 31, 2016
Distribution of Profits
Distribution of Profits	12. Distribution of Profits Relevant PRC statutory laws and regulations permit payment of dividends by the Group’s PRC subsidiaries and VIEs only out of their retained earnings, if any, as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Under PRC law, each of the Group’s PRC subsidiaries and VIEs is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund a statutory reserve until such reserve reaches 50% of its registered capital. Each of the Group’s subsidiaries with foreign investment is also required to further set aside a portion of its after-tax profits to fund the employee welfare fund at the discretion of the board. Although the statutory reserves can be used, among other ways, to increase the registered capital and eliminate future losses in excess of retained earnings of the respective companies, the reserve funds are not distributable as cash dividends, loans or advances except in the event of liquidation of these subsidiaries. The amount of the reserve fund for the Group as of December 31, 2015 and 2016 was $7,990,298 and $8,294,282 respectively. As a result of these PRC laws and regulations, the Group’s PRC subsidiaries and VIEs are restricted in their ability to transfer a portion of their net assets, including general reserve and registered capital, either in the form of dividends, loans or advances. Such restricted portion amounted to $33,778,838 and $34,082,822, of which $8,342,759 and $8,214,564 was attributed to general reserve and registered capital of the VIEs, as of December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Segment Information

Segment Information

13. Segment Information

The Group operates and manages its business as a single segment. The Group uses the management approach to determine operating segments. The management approach considers the internal organization and reporting used by the Group’s chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) for making decisions, allocating resources and assessing performance. The Group’s CODM has been identified as the chief executive officer, who reviews the consolidated results of the Group as a whole when making decisions about allocating resources and assessing performance.

The following table summarizes the revenue information of the Group:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
	$	$	$
E-commerce	326,679,871	420,552,177	419,023,733
Online advertising	155,049,818	134,229,255	117,948,842
Listing	14,293,184	21,022,504	22,538,535

	496,022,873	575,803,936	559,511,110

Geographic

Substantially all of the Group’s revenues from external customers and long-lived assets are located in the PRC.

Major customers

There were no customers from whom revenue accounted for 10% or more of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Details of the accounts receivable from customers accounting for 10% or more of total net accounts receivable are as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2015	2016
	$	$
Customer A	14,011,827	11,694,364

- Definition

The entire disclosure for reporting segments including data and tables. Reportable segments include those that meet any of the following quantitative thresholds a) it's reported revenue, including sales to external customers and intersegment sales or transfers is 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, internal and external, of all operating segments b) the absolute amount of its reported profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater, in absolute amount of 1) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or 2) the combined reported loss of all operating segments that did report a loss c) its assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 34
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68060357&loc=d3e8981-108599

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 41
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68060357&loc=d3e9038-108599

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Paragraph 26
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68060357&loc=d3e8844-108599

Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
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Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68060357&loc=d3e9031-108599

Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-Paragraph 42
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Reference 13: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
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Reference 14: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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+ Details

Related Party Balances and Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Related Party Balances and Transactions

14. Related Party Balances and Transactions

The table below sets forth major related parties and their relationships with the Group:

Company Name		Relationship with the Group
E-House		Under the common control of E-House Holdings until December 30, 2016, and E-house Holdings has become largest shareholder since then (Note1). Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is E-house’s chairman and chief executive officer and ultimate controller.
SINA		Mr. Charles Chao, co-chairman of E-House, is SINA’s chairman and chief executive officer, and SINA has become a principal shareholder since December 30, 2016 (Note1).
Beijing China Real Estate Research Association Technology Ltd. (“CRERAT”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is CRERAT’s legal representative, and E-House owns 51% of CRERAT.
Shanghai Baoku Treasury Culture Development Corporation Ltd. (“Baoku”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku’s chairman and ultimate controller.
Shanghai Baoku Information & Technology Ltd. (“Baoku I&T”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku I&T’s chairman and ultimate controller.
Shanghai Quanzhuyi Home Furnishing Accessories Ltd (“QuanZhuYi”)		One of the Group’s investment affiliates and the Group owns 13.5% equity interest

These consolidated financial statements include transactions with E-House and its subsidiaries. Furthermore, E-House provided certain corporate services for the consolidated financial statement periods presented (see Note 1).

During the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, related party transactions were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
	$	$	$
Corporate expenses allocated from E-House	2,857,251	—	—
Corporate service provided by E-House under transitional service agreement	10,399,978	6,040,071	8,585,821
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased from SINA	6,630,010	6,093,974	9,841,434
Services purchased from/rental paid to E-House	1,191,469	5,927,764	3,570,474
Services purchased from CRERAT	—	—	56,928
Services purchased from BaoKu	—	—	7,454
Online advertising services provided to CRERAT	—	3,174	—
Online advertising services provided to E-House	160,238	28,679	94,548
Online advertising services provided to SINA	—	19,899	1,441
Online advertising services provided to BaoKu	—	—	7,752
Online advertising services provided to BaoKu I&T	—	—	140,639
Dividend declared and paid to E-House	—	18,738,984	—
Loan from E-House	—	—	89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House	—	42,513,286	87,600,000

The transactions are measured at the amount of consideration established and agreed to by the related parties, which approximate amounts charged to third parties.

As at December 31, 2016, amounts due from related parties were $6,019,121, which represents the amount from to E-House.

As at December 31, 2015, amounts due from related parties were $8,906, which were the cash paid to supplier on behalf of CRERAT for the purchase of marketing services.

As at December 31, 2015 and 2016, amounts due to related parties were comprised of the following:

	As of December 31,
	2015	2016
	$	$
SINA (1)	1,418,096	1,557,078
E-House (2)	7,783,911	—
QuanZhuYi(3)	—	24,271
Management (4)	920,000	—
E-House Management (4)	92,000	—

Total	10,214,007	1,581,349

(1)

The amount due to SINA as of December 31, 2015 and 2016 represents online advertising agency fees payable to SINA.

(2)

The amount due to E-House as of December 31, 2015 was primarily for corporate service fees charged to Leju, and partially offset by the amount due to online services provided to E-House and revenues collected by E-House on behalf. The balance is interest free and settable on demand.

(3)

The amount due to QuanZhuYi represents a cash advance for the marketing services provided by the Group.

(4)

The amount due to management/ E-House management represents consideration paid by management/ E-House management for unvested restricted shares (see Note 10).

The rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance with E-House for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016 is as follows:

		Year Ended December 31,
		2014		2015		2016
		$		$		$
Balance at January 1		(3,471,958	)	1,560,283		7,783,911
Loan form E-House	A	—		—		89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House	A	—		(42,513,286	)	(87,600,000	)
Dividend declared to E-House	C	—		18,738,984		—
Dividend paid to E-House	D	—		(18,738,984	)	—
Corporate expenses allocated from E-House (Note 1)	B	2,857,251		—		—
Corporate service provided by E-House under transitional service agreement (Note 1)	E	10,399,978		6,040,071		8,585,821
Revenues collected by E-House on behalf of the Company	F	(4,803,958	)	—		—
Related party balance waived as capital contribution	B	(2,857,251	)	—		—
Service provided to E-House	E	(160,238	)	(28,679	)	(94,548	)
Service purchased from E-House	E	1,191,469		5,927,764		3,570,474
Net (payment) receipt for services	G	(1,595,010	)	36,797,758		(27,727,372	)

Balance at December 31		1,560,283		7,783,911		(6,019,121	)

Represents the movement of the loan payable to E-House

Represents the movement of the loans from E-House for capital contributions and headquarter expenses allocated by E-House prior to Leju’s initial public offering, which were subsequently 100% waived by E-House and recorded as capital contributions by Leju. Accordingly, the net balance at each year end is zero.

Represent the cash dividend declared by Leju to its shareholder E-house. In March 2015, the Company’s board of directors approved the payment of a cash dividend of $0.20 per ordinary share ($0.20 per ADS) directly from the additional paid-in capital account.

Represent the cash dividend paid to E-House.

Represents the movement of service fees receivable from and payable to E-House

Represents Leju revenues collected by E-House on behalf of the Company

Represents the cash flow between the Company and E-House except for the loan from (refund to) E-House

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Loan payable to E-House (A)	—		1,862,593
Service payable to E-House (E)	16,440,049		—
Receivables for E-House collection on behalf of the Company (F)	(8,656,138	)	(7,881,714	)

Amounts due to/(from) E-House	7,783,911		(6,019,121	)

Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

15. Commitments and Contingencies

(a) Operating lease commitments

The Group has operating lease agreements principally for its office properties in the PRC. Such leases have remaining terms ranging from one to 108 months and are renewable upon negotiation. Rental expenses were $8,601,039, $10,078,033 and $9,984,844, for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating lease agreements at December 31, 2016 were as follows:

Year Ended December 31		Amount
		$
2017		8,839,443
2018		5,204,094
2019		2,384,704
2020		1,166,878
2021		565,736
Then thereafter		738,335

Total		18,899,190

(b) Contingencies

The Group is subject to claims and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of its business. Each of these matters is subject to various uncertainties, and it is possible that some of these matters may be decided unfavorably to the Group. The Group does not believe that any of these matters will have a material effect on its business, assets or operations.

Subsequent Events	12 Months Ended
Subsequent Events	Dec. 31, 2016
Subsequent Events
Subsequent Events	16. Subsequent Events On March 30, 2017, the Company granted 2,135,000 options to purchase its ordinary shares, to certain of the Group’s employees at an exercise price of $3.24. The options expire ten years from the date of grant and vest ratably at each grant date anniversary over a period of three years.

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies

Basis of presentation

(a) Basis of presentation

The consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”).

Basis of consolidation

(b) Basis of consolidation

The VIE arrangements

Name of Foreign Owned Subsidiaries	Foreign Owned Subsidiaries’ Economic Ownership of VIES		Name of VIEs	Activities of VIEs
Shanghai SINA Leju	100	%	Beijing Leju	Operate the online advertising and listing business
Shanghai Yi Yue	100	%	Shanghai Yi Xin	Operate the e-commerce business
Beijing Maiteng	100	%	Beijing Jiajujiu	Operate the online home furnishing business

Agreements that Transfer Economic Benefits of the VIEs to the Group

Agreements that Provide Effective Control over VIEs

Risks in relation to the VIE structure

	As of December 31,
	2015	2016
	$	$
Cash and cash equivalents	59,170,627	89,160,450
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	111,300,756	62,212,257
Customer deposits	38,710,027	12,061,362
Amounts due from related parties	13,238,930	1,259,992
Other current assets	14,372,034	1,374,518

Total current assets	236,792,374	166,068,579
Total non-current assets	50,431,189	51,697,208

Total assets	287,223,563	217,765,787

Accounts payable	327,140	1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	34,784,706	29,742,853
Income tax payable	27,599,392	29,890,262
Other tax payable	17,268,065	13,360,481
Amounts due to related parties	1,418,096	1,581,349
Advance from customers	5,366,944	4,960,924
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses	733,473	6,271,191
Liability for unpaid consideration of acquiring non-controlling interest	7,338,593	—
Other current liabilities	6,340,375	6,809,176

Total current liabilities	101,176,784	94,189,856
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	523,874	533,401

Total liabilities	101,700,658	94,723,257

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Total revenues	484,511,682		558,714,556		540,838,424
Cost of revenues	(41,218,756	)	(48,032,280	)	(45,641,656	)
Net income	2,532,232		3,307,694		2,286,007
Net cash provided by operating activities	57,761,765		41,577,844		43,652,445
Net cash used in investing activities	(10,927,762	)	(13,884,075	)	(1,945,215	)
Net cash used in financing activities	(14,418,056	)	(59,873,366	)	(6,782,336	)

Use of estimates

Fair value of financial instruments

(d) Fair value of financial instruments

Level 1 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 3 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

There are no assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Business combinations

(e) Business combinations

Cash and cash equivalents

(f) Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash on hand and demand deposits, which are unrestricted as to withdrawal and use, and which have original maturities of three months or less.

Marketable securities

(g) Marketable securities

Customer deposits

(h) Customer deposits

Investment in affiliates

(i) Investment in affiliates

Property and equipment, net

(j) Property and equipment, net

Property and equipment is recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives:

Leasehold improvements		Over the shorter of the lease term or their estimated useful lives
Buildings		30 years
Furniture, fixtures and equipment		3-5 years
Motor vehicles		5 years

Gains and losses from the disposal of property and equipment are included in income from operations.

Intangible assets, net

(k) Intangible assets, net

Impairment of long-lived assets

(l) Impairment of long-lived assets

Impairment of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets

(m) Impairment of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets

Income taxes

(n) Income taxes

Share-based compensation

(o) Share-based compensation

Revenue recognition

(p) Revenue recognition

The Group generates real estate online revenues principally from e-commerce, online advertising, and listing services.

Deferred revenues are recognized when payments are received in advance of revenue recognition.

Cost of revenue

(q) Cost of revenue

Marketing and advertising expenses

(r) Marketing and advertising expenses

Foreign currency translation

(s) Foreign currency translation

The Group recorded an exchange gain $88,721, $156,641 and $64,650 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively, as a component of other income, net.

Government subsidies

(t) Government subsidies

Concentration of credit risk

(u) Concentration of credit risk

Movement of the allowance for doubtful accounts for accounts receivable is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	9,353,689		15,471,020		26,350,814
Provisions for doubtful accounts	11,599,708		18,959,895		14,797,072
Write offs	(5,437,380	)	(6,827,314	)	(8,081,575	)
Changes due to foreign exchange	(44,997	)	(1,252,787	)	(1,905,971	)

Balance as of December 31	15,471,020		26,350,814		31,160,340

The allowance for other receivables was nil for all periods presented.

Earnings per share

(v) Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share are computed by dividing income attributable to holders of ordinary shares by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period.

Diluted earnings per ordinary share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue ordinary shares were exercised or converted into ordinary shares.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted income per share for the periods indicated:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted	$	66,520,894	$	35,330,089	$	(9,788,839	)

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic	129,320,666		134,528,971		135,220,210
Stock options	3,181,434		1,695,003		—

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted	132,502,100		136,223,974		135,220,210


Basic earnings (loss) per share	$	0.51	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)


Diluted earnings (loss) per share	$	0.50	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)

Diluted earnings per share do not include the following instruments as their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
Share options and restricted shares	—	2,464,500	7,746,383

Non-controlling interest

(w) Non-controlling interest

Comprehensive income

(x) Comprehensive income

Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncement and Recently issued accounting pronouncements

(y) Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncement

(z) Recently issued accounting pronouncements

Organization and Principal Activities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Organization and Principal Activities

Schedule of major subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs

The following table lists major subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs of the Company as of December 31, 2016:

	Date of Incorporation	Place of Incorporation	Percentage of Ownership
Shanghai SINA Leju Information Technology Co., Ltd (“Shanghai SINA Leju”)	08-May-08	PRC	100	%
E-House City Re-House Real Estate Agency (Shanghai) Limited(“City RE-House”)	04-Mar-10	PRC	100	%
Shanghai Yi Yue Information Technology Co., Ltd (“Shanghai Yi Yue”)	16-Sep-11	PRC	100	%
Beijing Maiteng Fengshun Science and Technology Co., Ltd (“Beijing Maiteng”)	04-Jan-12	PRC	84	%
Beijing Yisheng Leju Information Service Co., Ltd.(“Beijing Leju”)	13-Feb-08	PRC	VIE
Shanghai Yi Xin E-Commerce Co., Ltd.(“Shanghai Yi Xin”)	05-Dec-11	PRC	VIE
Beijing Jiajujiu E-Commerce Co., Ltd.(“Beijing Jiajujiu”)	22-Mar-12	PRC	VIE

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies

Schedule of foreign owned subsidiaries economic ownership in variable interest entities

Name of Foreign Owned Subsidiaries	Foreign Owned Subsidiaries’ Economic Ownership of VIES		Name of VIEs	Activities of VIEs
Shanghai SINA Leju	100	%	Beijing Leju	Operate the online advertising and listing business
Shanghai Yi Yue	100	%	Shanghai Yi Xin	Operate the e-commerce business
Beijing Maiteng	100	%	Beijing Jiajujiu	Operate the online home furnishing business

Schedule of financial statement amounts and balances of the Group's VIEs

	As of December 31,
	2015	2016
	$	$
Cash and cash equivalents	59,170,627	89,160,450
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	111,300,756	62,212,257
Customer deposits	38,710,027	12,061,362
Amounts due from related parties	13,238,930	1,259,992
Other current assets	14,372,034	1,374,518

Total current assets	236,792,374	166,068,579
Total non-current assets	50,431,189	51,697,208

Total assets	287,223,563	217,765,787

Accounts payable	327,140	1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	34,784,706	29,742,853
Income tax payable	27,599,392	29,890,262
Other tax payable	17,268,065	13,360,481
Amounts due to related parties	1,418,096	1,581,349
Advance from customers	5,366,944	4,960,924
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses	733,473	6,271,191
Liability for unpaid consideration of acquiring non-controlling interest	7,338,593	—
Other current liabilities	6,340,375	6,809,176

Total current liabilities	101,176,784	94,189,856
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	523,874	533,401

Total liabilities	101,700,658	94,723,257

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Total revenues	484,511,682		558,714,556		540,838,424
Cost of revenues	(41,218,756	)	(48,032,280	)	(45,641,656	)
Net income	2,532,232		3,307,694		2,286,007
Net cash provided by operating activities	57,761,765		41,577,844		43,652,445
Net cash used in investing activities	(10,927,762	)	(13,884,075	)	(1,945,215	)
Net cash used in financing activities	(14,418,056	)	(59,873,366	)	(6,782,336	)

Schedule of property, plant and equipment, useful life

Leasehold improvements		Over the shorter of the lease term or their estimated useful lives
Buildings		30 years
Furniture, fixtures and equipment		3-5 years
Motor vehicles		5 years

Schedule of movement of the allowance for doubtful accounts for accounts receivable

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	9,353,689		15,471,020		26,350,814
Provisions for doubtful accounts	11,599,708		18,959,895		14,797,072
Write offs	(5,437,380	)	(6,827,314	)	(8,081,575	)
Changes due to foreign exchange	(44,997	)	(1,252,787	)	(1,905,971	)

Balance as of December 31	15,471,020		26,350,814		31,160,340

Schedule of the computation of basic and diluted income per share

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted	$	66,520,894	$	35,330,089	$	(9,788,839	)

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic	129,320,666		134,528,971		135,220,210
Stock options	3,181,434		1,695,003		—

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted	132,502,100		136,223,974		135,220,210


Basic earnings (loss) per share	$	0.51	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)


Diluted earnings (loss) per share	$	0.50	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)

Schedule of antidilutive securities excluded from computation of diluted earnings (loss) per share

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
Share options and restricted shares	—	2,464,500	7,746,383

Property and Equipment, Net (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Property and Equipment, Net

Schedule of property and equipment, net

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	12,492,343		14,129,811
Leasehold improvements	5,490,605		5,969,254
Buildings	633,646		593,146
Motor vehicles	1,737,572		1,717,806


Total	20,354,166		22,410,017
Accumulated depreciation	(13,553,552	)	(14,486,990	)


Property and equipment, net	6,800,614		7,923,027

Intangible Assets, Net (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Intangible Assets, Net

Schedule of intangible assets, net

	As of December 31,		Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period in Years
	2015	2016
	$	$
Intangible assets subject to amortization are comprised of the following:
Advertising agency agreement with SINA	106,790,000	106,790,000	7.25
License agreements with SINA	80,660,000	80,660,000	7.25
Exclusive rights with Baidu	54,096,827	50,639,152	—
Customer relationship	10,538,309	10,269,891	2.69
Database license	8,300,000	8,300,000	1.25
Non-compete agreements	1,575,336	1,489,800	—
Computer software licenses	1,023,321	1,056,540	2.63


	262,983,793	259,205,383	7.07
Less: Accumulated amortization
Advertising agency agreement	57,341,459	63,396,382
License agreements with SINA	43,881,281	48,384,797
Exclusive rights with Baidu	54,096,827	50,639,152
Customer relationship	8,424,820	8,975,366
Database license	6,102,942	7,079,413
Non-compete agreements	1,575,336	1,489,800
Computer software licenses	824,300	866,857


Intangible assets subject to amortization, net	90,736,828	78,373,616


Total intangible assets, net	90,736,828	78,373,616

Goodwill (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Goodwill

Schedule of changes in the carrying amount of goodwill

	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	40,610,620		40,563,075		39,807,243
Exchange rate translation	(47,545	)	(755,832	)	(789,185	)


Balance as of December 31	40,563,075		39,807,243		39,018,058

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Goodwill, gross	457,629,547		456,840,362
Accumulated impairment charge	(417,822,304	)	(417,822,304	)


Goodwill, net	39,807,243		39,018,058

Other Income, Net (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Other Income, Net

Schedule of other income, net

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015	2016
	$		$	$
Amortized discounts related to liability for exclusive rights	(52,922	)	—	—
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	—		—	180,112
Foreign exchange gain	88,721		156,641	64,650
Others	—		133,398	374,988


Total	35,799		290,039	619,750

Income Tax (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Tax

Schedule of components of Income (loss) before income taxes

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Income (loss) before income taxes:
PRC	111,905,366		70,382,855		8,742,444
Outside of PRC	(29,476,625	)	(25,041,651	)	(22,186,499	)


Total	82,428,741		45,341,204		(13,444,055	)

Schedule of expense (benefit) for income taxes

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Current Tax
PRC	17,905,374		17,990,790		13,331,921
Outside of PRC	10,072		17,425		16,686


	17,915,446		18,008,215		13,348,607


Deferred Tax
PRC	(2,369,482	)	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)
Outside of PRC	—		—		—


	(2,369,482	)	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)


Income tax expense (benefit)	15,545,964		10,307,322		(2,067,739	)

Schedule of principal components of the deferred income tax assets/liabilities

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued salary expenses	11,248,353		10,298,156
Bad debt provision	6,587,704		7,790,085
Net operating loss carry forwards	3,787,766		9,421,817
Advertising expenses temporarily non-deductible	11,307,976		13,811,900
Others	492,160		568,874

Gross deferred tax assets	33,423,959		41,890,832
Valuation allowance	(654,267	)	(192,536	)

Total deferred tax assets	32,769,692		41,698,296


Deferred tax liabilities:
Amortization of intangible and other assets	22,997,731		18,869,374

Total deferred tax liabilities	22,997,731		18,869,374

Schedule of movement of the valuation allowance

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	(1,051,973	)	(957,162	)	(654,267	)
Reverse (additions)	—		255,264		(686	)
Write off	90,811		—		409,467
Changes due to exchange rate translation	4,000		47,631		52,950

Balance as of December 31	(957,162	)	(654,267	)	(192,536	)

Schedule of reconciliation between the provision for income tax computed by applying the statutory tax rate to income before income taxes and the actual provision for income taxes

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2015		2016
PRC income tax rate	25.00	%	25.00	%	25.00	%
Share based compensation expenses not deductible for tax purposes	3.27	%	5.17	%	(19.17	)%
Other expenses not deductible for tax purposes	0.72	%	3.71	%	(4.30	)%
Effect of tax holiday	(13.69	)%	(13.18	)%	5.19	%
Effect of different tax rate of subsidiary operation in other jurisdiction	1.08	%	2.05	%	(2.11	)%
Effect of different tax rate of DTA and DTL applied	2.29	%	(2.37	)%	17.58	%
Valuation allowance movement	—		(0.56	)%	(0.01	)%
Withholding tax	0.19	%	2.91	%	(6.80	)%

	18.86	%	22.73	%	15.38	%

Schedule of the aggregate amount and per share effect of the tax holiday

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
	$	$	$
The aggregate dollar effect	11,285,429	5,977,806	697,559
Per share effect—basic	0.09	0.04	0.01
Per share effect—diluted	0.09	0.04	0.01

Share-Based Compensation (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Leju Plan

Share-Based Compensation

Schedule of assumptions used to estimate the fair value of share options granted

	2015
Risk-free rate of return	2.14	%
Contractual life of option	10 years
Estimated volatility rate	62.82	%
Dividend yield	2.56	%

Summary of option activity

	Number of Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Weighted Average Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	8,063,718		5.12	8.50	4,806,104
Granted	—
Exercised	(66,424	)	4.60		43,253
Forfeited	(250,911	)	5.83

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	7,746,383		5.11	7.50	—

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2016	7,660,828		5.09	7.48	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2016	6,190,050		4.82	7.16	—

Summary of restricted share activity

	Number of Restricted Shares		Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	797,336		8.82
Granted	—
Vested	(506,664	)	7.38
Forfeited	(30,668	)	11.34

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	260,004		11.33

Omnigold Plan

Share-Based Compensation

Schedule of assumptions used to estimate the fair value of share options granted

	2015
Risk-free rate of return	3.33	%
Contractual life of option	10 years
Estimated volatility rate	63.69	%
Dividend yield	0.00	%

Summary of option activity

	Number of Options		Exercise Price	Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	2,270,000		1.50	9.61
Granted	—				—
Exercised	—
Forfeited	(65,000	)	1.50		—

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	2,205,000		1.50	8.61	—

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2016	2,056,473		1.50	8.61	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2016	756,667		1.50	8.61	—

E-House Plan

Share-Based Compensation

Summary of option activity

	Number of Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Weighted Average Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2016	8,956,283		4.67	4.80	14,509,178
Exercised	(153,734	)	3.95		371,082
Forfeited	(4,000	)	5.37		—
Redemption upon delisting	(8,798,549	)	4.69		—

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2016	—		—	—	—

Summary of restricted share activity

	Number of Restricted Shares		Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
			$
Unvested as of January 1, 2016	1,358,715		8.50
Granted	—
Vested	(46,335	)	10.70
Forfeited	—
Redemption upon delisting	(1,312,380	)

Unvested as of December 31, 2016	—

Segment Information (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

CONCENTRATION OF RISK

Summary of the revenue information of the Group

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
	$	$	$
E-commerce	326,679,871	420,552,177	419,023,733
Online advertising	155,049,818	134,229,255	117,948,842
Listing	14,293,184	21,022,504	22,538,535

	496,022,873	575,803,936	559,511,110

Accounts receivable | Customer risk

CONCENTRATION OF RISK

Schedule of concentration risk

	As of December 31,
	2015	2016
	$	$
Customer A	14,011,827	11,694,364

Related Party Balances and Transactions (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Schedule of major related parties and their relationships

Company Name		Relationship with the Group
E-House		Under the common control of E-House Holdings until December 30, 2016, and E-house Holdings has become largest shareholder since then (Note1). Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is E-house’s chairman and chief executive officer and ultimate controller.
SINA		Mr. Charles Chao, co-chairman of E-House, is SINA’s chairman and chief executive officer, and SINA has become a principal shareholder since December 30, 2016 (Note1).
Beijing China Real Estate Research Association Technology Ltd. (“CRERAT”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is CRERAT’s legal representative, and E-House owns 51% of CRERAT.
Shanghai Baoku Treasury Culture Development Corporation Ltd. (“Baoku”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku’s chairman and ultimate controller.
Shanghai Baoku Information & Technology Ltd. (“Baoku I&T”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku I&T’s chairman and ultimate controller.
Shanghai Quanzhuyi Home Furnishing Accessories Ltd (“QuanZhuYi”)		One of the Group’s investment affiliates and the Group owns 13.5% equity interest

Schedule of related party transactions

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014	2015	2016
	$	$	$
Corporate expenses allocated from E-House	2,857,251	—	—
Corporate service provided by E-House under transitional service agreement	10,399,978	6,040,071	8,585,821
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased from SINA	6,630,010	6,093,974	9,841,434
Services purchased from/rental paid to E-House	1,191,469	5,927,764	3,570,474
Services purchased from CRERAT	—	—	56,928
Services purchased from BaoKu	—	—	7,454
Online advertising services provided to CRERAT	—	3,174	—
Online advertising services provided to E-House	160,238	28,679	94,548
Online advertising services provided to SINA	—	19,899	1,441
Online advertising services provided to BaoKu	—	—	7,752
Online advertising services provided to BaoKu I&T	—	—	140,639
Dividend declared and paid to E-House	—	18,738,984	—
Loan from E-House	—	—	89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House	—	42,513,286	87,600,000

Schedule of amounts due to related parties

	As of December 31,
	2015	2016
	$	$
SINA (1)	1,418,096	1,557,078
E-House (2)	7,783,911	—
QuanZhuYi(3)	—	24,271
Management (4)	920,000	—
E-House Management (4)	92,000	—

Total	10,214,007	1,581,349

(1)

The amount due to SINA as of December 31, 2015 and 2016 represents online advertising agency fees payable to SINA.

(2)

(3)

The amount due to QuanZhuYi represents a cash advance for the marketing services provided by the Group.

(4)

The amount due to management/ E-House management represents consideration paid by management/ E-House management for unvested restricted shares (see Note 10).

Schedule of rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance with related party

		Year Ended December 31,
		2014		2015		2016
		$		$		$
Balance at January 1		(3,471,958	)	1,560,283		7,783,911
Loan form E-House	A	—		—		89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House	A	—		(42,513,286	)	(87,600,000	)
Dividend declared to E-House	C	—		18,738,984		—
Dividend paid to E-House	D	—		(18,738,984	)	—
Corporate expenses allocated from E-House (Note 1)	B	2,857,251		—		—
Corporate service provided by E-House under transitional service agreement (Note 1)	E	10,399,978		6,040,071		8,585,821
Revenues collected by E-House on behalf of the Company	F	(4,803,958	)	—		—
Related party balance waived as capital contribution	B	(2,857,251	)	—		—
Service provided to E-House	E	(160,238	)	(28,679	)	(94,548	)
Service purchased from E-House	E	1,191,469		5,927,764		3,570,474
Net (payment) receipt for services	G	(1,595,010	)	36,797,758		(27,727,372	)

Balance at December 31		1,560,283		7,783,911		(6,019,121	)

Represents the movement of the loan payable to E-House

Represent the cash dividend paid to E-House.

Represents the movement of service fees receivable from and payable to E-House

Represents Leju revenues collected by E-House on behalf of the Company

Represents the cash flow between the Company and E-House except for the loan from (refund to) E-House

	As of December 31,
	2015		2016
	$		$
Loan payable to E-House (A)	—		1,862,593
Service payable to E-House (E)	16,440,049		—
Receivables for E-House collection on behalf of the Company (F)	(8,656,138	)	(7,881,714	)

Amounts due to/(from) E-House	7,783,911		(6,019,121	)

Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies

Schedule of future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating lease agreements

Year Ended December 31		Amount
		$
2017		8,839,443
2018		5,204,094
2019		2,384,704
2020		1,166,878
2021		565,736
Then thereafter		738,335

Total		18,899,190

Organization and Principal Activities (Details) - USD ($)				4 Months Ended	8 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2016	Apr. 17, 2014	Mar. 21, 2014	Apr. 16, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Selling, general and administrative expenses						$ 521,797,022	$ 475,445,516	$ 366,341,900
Ordinary Shares \| Initial public offering
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Number of shares issued or sold		11,500,000
Net proceeds from IPO		$ 101,400,000
ADSs \| Initial public offering
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Number of shares issued or sold		11,500,000
Share price		$ 10.00
Tencent \| Ordinary Shares \| Initial public offering
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Share price		$ 10.00
Tencent \| Ordinary Shares \| Private placement
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Number of shares issued or sold		2,029,420
Net proceeds from private placement		$ 18,900,000
SINA
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Corporate service under transitional service agreement						$ 9,841,434	6,093,974	$ 6,630,010
Shanghai SINA Leju
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Ownership percentage						100.00%
City RE-House
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Ownership percentage						100.00%
Shanghai Yi Yue
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Ownership percentage						100.00%
Beijing Maiteng
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Ownership percentage						84.00%
E-House
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Selling, general and administrative expenses				$ 2,857,251
Corporate service under transitional service agreement					$ 10,399,978	$ 8,585,821	$ 6,040,071
E-House \| Tencent \| Share purchase and subscription agreement
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Number of subsidiary shares acquired by counterparty			19,201,800
Consideration received			$ 180,000,000
E-House \| SINA
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Aggregate consideration of ordinary shares repurchased, ordinary shares transferred (in shares)	40,651,187
Aggregate consideration of ordinary shares repurchased, cash payment	$ 129,038,150

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies - VIE Arrangements (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016
Foreign owned subsidiaries economic ownership in variable interest entities
Term of loan agreement	20 years
Term of each shareholder voting right proxy agreement	20 years
Automatic extended term of shareholder voting right proxy agreement	1 year
Minimum
Foreign owned subsidiaries economic ownership in variable interest entities
Written notice for extension prior to expiration under shareholder voting right proxy agreement period	30 days
Beijing Leju \| Shanghai SINA Leju
Foreign owned subsidiaries economic ownership in variable interest entities
Ownership interest (as a percent)	100.00%
Shanghai Yi Xin \| Shanghai Yi Yue
Foreign owned subsidiaries economic ownership in variable interest entities
Ownership interest (as a percent)	100.00%
Beijing Jiajujiu \| Beijing Maiteng
Foreign owned subsidiaries economic ownership in variable interest entities
Ownership interest (as a percent)	100.00%

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies - VIE Amounts and Balances (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Financial statement amounts and balances of the Group's VIEs
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 274,337,674	$ 260,295,909	$ 317,811,056	$ 98,729,639
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	71,390,171	113,991,480
Customer deposits	39,702,416	58,833,225
Amounts due from related parties	6,019,121	8,906
Total current assets	406,386,446	454,010,187
Accounts payable	1,573,620	327,140
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	41,727,577	45,691,874
Income tax payable	66,147,522	66,814,874
Other tax payable	16,678,264	31,930,296
Amounts due to related parties	1,581,349	10,214,007
Advance from customers	5,058,212	5,703,085
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses	9,355,409	3,914,990
Liability for unpaid consideration for acquiring non-controlling interest		7,338,593
Other current liabilities	8,516,123	7,672,494
Total current liabilities	150,638,076	179,607,353
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	18,869,374	22,997,731
Total revenues	559,511,110	575,803,936	496,022,873
Cost of revenues	(57,491,395)	(60,313,726)	(51,129,730)
Net income	(11,601,068)	34,805,905	66,659,388
Net cash provided by operating activities	35,108,526	51,274,996	124,830,989
Net cash used in investing activities	(4,315,843)	(15,099,773)	(12,355,416)
Net cash used in financing activities	(4,604,993)	(85,174,408)	107,080,458
Consolidated VIEs without recourse
Financial statement amounts and balances of the Group's VIEs
Cash and cash equivalents	89,160,450	59,170,627
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	62,212,257	111,300,756
Customer deposits	12,061,362	38,710,027
Amounts due from related parties	1,259,992	13,238,930
Other current assets	1,374,518	14,372,034
Total current assets	166,068,579	236,792,374
Total non-current assets	51,697,208	50,431,189
Total assets	217,765,787	287,223,563
Accounts payable	1,573,620	327,140
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	29,742,853	34,784,706
Income tax payable	29,890,262	27,599,392
Other tax payable	13,360,481	17,268,065
Amounts due to related parties	1,581,349	1,418,096
Advance from customers	4,960,924	5,366,944
Liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses	6,271,191	733,473
Liability for unpaid consideration for acquiring non-controlling interest		7,338,593
Other current liabilities	6,809,176	6,340,375
Total current liabilities	94,189,856	101,176,784
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	533,401	523,874
Total liabilities	94,723,257	101,700,658
Total revenues	540,838,424	558,714,556	484,511,682
Cost of revenues	(45,641,656)	(48,032,280)	(41,218,756)
Net income	2,286,007	3,307,694	2,532,232
Net cash provided by operating activities	43,652,445	41,577,844	57,761,765
Net cash used in investing activities	(1,945,215)	(13,884,075)	(10,927,762)
Net cash used in financing activities	$ (6,782,336)	$ (59,873,366)	$ (14,418,056)

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies - Various Policies (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Customer deposits
Customer deposits maturity period	12 months
Revenue recognition
Total revenue	$ 7,191,725	$ 3,689,272	$ 4,836,931
Advertising expense
Marketing and advertising expenses	345,862,479	306,846,482	196,396,734
Government subsidies
Cash subsidies included in other operating income	4,586,746	3,567,965	2,525,496
Movement of the allowance for doubtful accounts for accounts receivable
Balance at beginning of the year	26,350,814	15,471,020	9,353,689
Provisions for doubtful accounts	14,797,072	18,959,895	11,599,708
Write offs	(8,081,575)	(6,827,314)	(5,437,380)
Changes due to foreign exchange	(1,905,971)	(1,252,787)	(44,997)
Balance at end of the year	31,160,340	26,350,814	15,471,020
Allowance for other receivables	0	0	0
Other income, net
Foreign currency translation
Foreign exchange gain	$ 64,650	156,641	88,721
Buildings
Property and equipment, net
Estimated useful lives	P30Y
Motor vehicles
Property and equipment, net
Estimated useful lives	P5Y
Minimum \| Furniture, fixtures and equipment
Property and equipment, net
Estimated useful lives	P3Y
Maximum \| Furniture, fixtures and equipment
Property and equipment, net
Estimated useful lives	P5Y
Nonrecurring
Fair value of financial instruments
Fair value of assets	$ 0	0	0
Fair value of liabilities	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies - Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Earnings per share
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders-basic and diluted	$ (9,788,839)	$ 35,330,089	$ 66,520,894
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding-basic (in shares)	135,220,210	134,528,971	129,320,666
Stock options		1,695,003	3,181,434
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding - diluted (in shares)	135,220,210	136,223,974	132,502,100
Basic earnings (loss) per share (in dollars per share)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26	$ 0.51
Diluted earnings (loss) per share (in dollars per share)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26	$ 0.50
Share options and restricted shares
Antidilutive instruments excluded from computation of diluted earnings (loss) per share
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of diluted earnings (loss) per share	7,746,383	2,464,500

Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests (Details)	1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests (Details)	Sep. 30, 2014 CNY (¥) item	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($) item	Jan. 31, 2014 CNY (¥) item	Jan. 31, 2014 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Decrease in equity attributable to Leju's shareholders					$ 32,469,069
Liability for Consideration Payable of Acquiring Non-controlling Interest								$ 7,338,593
Number of employee individual shareholders entered into equity transfer agreement \| item	5	5
Group of five employees
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Number of years should serve by five employee individual shareholders after acquisition	2 years	2 years
Total unrecognized compensation expense		$ 4,276,810				$ 0		1,603,805
Recognition period of stock based compensation expense	2 years	2 years
Beijing Lotta
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Number of individual shareholders entered into equity transfer agreement \| item			2	2
Percentage of shares acquired			40.00%	40.00%
Total consideration			¥ 100,000,000	$ 16,254,600
Additional paid-in capital derecognized					15,112,828
Non-controlling interest derecognized					1,141,772
Liability for Consideration Payable of Acquiring Non-controlling Interest						0	¥ 22,000,000	3,387,956
Tianjin Leju
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Percentage of shares acquired		30.00%
Total consideration	¥ 28,830,000	$ 4,685,913
Additional paid-in capital derecognized					4,449,469
Non-controlling interest derecognized					236,444
Liability for Consideration Payable of Acquiring Non-controlling Interest						0		243,989
Beijing Leju Advertisement and Yisheng Shanghai
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Number of individual shareholders entered into equity transfer agreement \| item	6	6
Percentage of shares acquired		24.50%
Total consideration	¥ 117,355,000	$ 19,074,412
Additional paid-in capital derecognized					12,906,772
Non-controlling interest derecognized					$ 1,890,830
Liability for Consideration Payable of Acquiring Non-controlling Interest						$ 0		$ 3,706,648
Beijing Leju Advertisement and Yisheng Shanghai \| Group of five employees
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Total consideration	¥ 98,775,000	16,054,493
Total consideration for 1% equity interest		$ 823,307
Percentage of five employee owned	19.50%	19.50%
Beijing Leju Advertisement and Yisheng Shanghai \| Individual share holder
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Total consideration	¥ 18,580,000	$ 3,019,919
Total consideration for 1% equity interest		$ 603,984
Percentage of other individual shareholders owned	5.00%	5.00%
Beijing Leju
Acquisition of Non-controlling Interests.
Number of subsidiaries to purchase remaining percentage \| item	2	2

Property and Equipment, Net (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Property and Equipment, Net (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	$ 22,410,017	$ 20,354,166
Accumulated depreciation	(14,486,990)	(13,553,552)
Property and equipment, net	7,923,027	6,800,614
Depreciation expenses	2,579,726	2,626,264	$ 3,030,451
Furniture, fixtures and equipment
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	14,129,811	12,492,343
Leasehold improvements
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	5,969,254	5,490,605
Buildings
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	593,146	633,646
Motor vehicles
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	$ 1,717,806	$ 1,737,572

Intangible Assets, Net (Details)	1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
Intangible Assets, Net (Details)	Apr. 30, 2015 CNY (¥)	Apr. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				$ 259,205,383	$ 262,983,793
Intangible assets subject to amortization, net				78,373,616	90,736,828
Total intangible assets, net				$ 78,373,616	90,736,828
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period				7 years 26 days
Amortization expenses				$ 12,426,950	26,653,571	$ 23,088,327
Amortization of Discounts Related to Liability for Exclusive Rights						52,922
Expected amortization expenses
2017				12,220,078
2018				11,327,942
2019				10,813,544
2020				10,576,991
2021				10,558,440
SINA \| Advertising agency agreement and license agreements
Intangible Assets, Net
Percentage of revenue fee on sales			15.00%
Additional extension term of agreement			5 years
Additional consideration upon extension term of agreement			$ 0
Advertising agency agreement \| SINA
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				106,790,000	106,790,000
Less: Accumulated amortization				$ 63,396,382	57,341,459
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period				7 years 3 months
License agreements \| SINA
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				$ 80,660,000	80,660,000
Less: Accumulated amortization				$ 48,384,797	43,881,281
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period				7 years 3 months
Exclusive rights \| Baidu
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				$ 50,639,152	54,096,827
Less: Accumulated amortization				50,639,152	54,096,827
Amount paid in connection with intangible assets	¥ 75,000,000	$ 12,023,475		0	12,023,475	9,004,710	$ 47,612,100
Fair value of intangible assets recognized							43,847,992
Difference between fair value of intangibles and principal amount							$ 3,764,108
Amortization of Discounts Related to Liability for Exclusive Rights				0	0	$ 52,922
Customer relationship
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				10,269,891	10,538,309
Less: Accumulated amortization				$ 8,975,366	8,424,820
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period				2 years 8 months 9 days
Database license
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				$ 8,300,000	8,300,000
Less: Accumulated amortization				$ 7,079,413	6,102,942
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period				1 year 3 months
Non-compete agreements
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				$ 1,489,800	1,575,336
Less: Accumulated amortization				1,489,800	1,575,336
Computer software licenses
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization				1,056,540	1,023,321
Less: Accumulated amortization				$ 866,857	$ 824,300
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period				2 years 7 months 17 days

Goodwill (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Goodwill (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill
Balance as of January 1	$ 39,807,243	$ 40,563,075	$ 40,610,620
Exchange rate translation	(789,185)	(755,832)	(47,545)
Balance as of December 31	39,018,058	39,807,243	40,563,075
Goodwill, net
Goodwill, gross				$ 456,840,362	$ 457,629,547
Accumulated impairment charge				(417,822,304)	(417,822,304)
Goodwill, net	39,807,243	40,563,075	40,610,620	$ 39,018,058	$ 39,807,243
Goodwill impairment charge	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0

Dividends (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Dividends (Details) - USD ($)	May 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015
Dividends
Dividends to shareholders	$ 26,873,022	$ 26,873,022
Ordinary Shares
Dividends
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)			$ 0.20
ADSs
Dividends
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)			$ 0.20

Other Income, Net (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Other Income, Net (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Other Income, Net
Amortized discounts related to liability for exclusive rights			$ (52,922)
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	$ 180,112
Foreign exchange gain	64,650	$ 156,641	88,721
Others	374,988	133,398
Total	$ 619,750	$ 290,039	$ 35,799

Income Tax - Income Tax and Deferred Tax Asset and Liabilities Components (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Income Tax
PRC		$ 8,742,444	$ 70,382,855	$ 111,905,366
Outside of PRC		(22,186,499)	(25,041,651)	(29,476,625)
Income (loss) before taxes and equity in affiliates		(13,444,055)	45,341,204	82,428,741
PRC		13,331,921	17,990,790	17,905,374
Outside of the PRC		16,686	17,425	10,072
Current income taxes expenses (benefits)		13,348,607	18,008,215	17,915,446
PRC		(15,416,346)	(7,700,893)	(2,369,482)
Deferred income taxes expenses (benefits)		(15,416,346)	(7,700,893)	(2,369,482)
Income tax expense (benefit)		$ (2,067,739)	$ 10,307,322	$ 15,545,964
Statutory tax rate (as a percent)	25.00%	25.00%	25.00%	25.00%
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued salary expenses		$ 10,298,156	$ 11,248,353
Bad debt provision		7,790,085	6,587,704
Net operating loss carry forwards		9,421,817	3,787,766
Advertising expenses temporarily non-deductible		13,811,900	11,307,976
Others		568,874	492,160
Gross deferred tax assets		41,890,832	33,423,959
Valuation allowance		(192,536)	(654,267)	$ (957,162)	$ (1,051,973)
Total deferred tax assets		41,698,296	32,769,692
Deferred tax liabilities:
Amortization of intangible and other assets		18,869,374	22,997,731
Total deferred tax liabilities		$ 18,869,374	$ 22,997,731
PRC
Income Tax
Period of statute of limitations	3 years	3 years
Period of statute of limitations, if the underpayment is more than the specified amount	5 years	5 years
Minimum amount of underpayment of taxes for statute of limitations to be extended to five years	¥ 100,000	$ 14,416
Period of statute of limitations for transfer pricing issues	10 years	10 years
PRC \| Shanghai SINA Leju \| High and new technology enterprise \| Tax year 2013 through 2014
Income Tax
Preferential tax rate (as a percent)	15.00%	15.00%
PRC \| Shanghai SINA Leju \| High and new technology enterprise \| Tax year 2015 through 2017
Income Tax
Preferential tax rate (as a percent)	15.00%	15.00%
PRC \| Shanghai Fangxin information technology Co., Ltd. \| Software Enterprise \| Tax year 2014 through 2016
Income Tax
Reduction in tax for the year following the exemption period (as a percent)	50.00%	50.00%	50.00%	50.00%
Preferential tax rate (as a percent)	12.50%	12.50%	12.50%	12.50%
Hong Kong
Income Tax
Tax rate (as a percent)	16.50%	16.50%

Income Tax - Valuation Allowance, Tax Rate Reconciliation, Tax Holiday (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Movement of the valuation allowance
Balance at beginning of the year	$ (654,267)	$ (957,162)	$ (1,051,973)
Reverse (additions)	(686)	255,264	0
Write off	409,467		90,811
Changes due to exchange rate translation	52,950	47,631	4,000
Balance at end of the year	$ (192,536)	$ (654,267)	$ (957,162)
Income Tax
Cumulative loss incurred period as significant piece of objective negative evidence evaluated	3 years
Reconciliation between the provision for income tax computed by applying the statutory tax rate to income before income taxes and the actual provision for income taxes
PRC income tax rate (as a percent)	25.00%	25.00%	25.00%
Share based compensation expenses not deductible for tax purposes (as a percent)	(19.17%)	5.17%	3.27%
Other expenses not deductible for tax purposes (as a percent)	(4.30%)	3.71%	0.72%
Effect of tax holiday (as a percent)	5.19%	(13.18%)	(13.69%)
Effect of different tax rate of subsidiary operation in other jurisdiction (as a percent)	(2.11%)	2.05%	1.08%
Effect of different tax rate of DTA and DTL applied (as a percent)	17.58%	(2.37%)	2.29%
Valuation allowance movement (as a percent)	(0.01%)	(0.56%)
Withholding tax	(6.80%)	2.91%	0.19%
Income tax rate (as a percent)	15.38%	22.73%	18.86%
Aggregate amount and per share effect of the tax holiday
The aggregate dollar effect	$ 697,559	$ 5,977,806	$ 11,285,429
Per share effect-basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.04	$ 0.09
Per share effect-diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.04	$ 0.09

Income Tax - Tax carry forwards, Unrecognized Deferred Tax Liabilities, Tax Liability (Details) - USD ($)	4 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 16, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015
Income Tax
Tax operating loss carry forwards		$ 37,687,269		$ 15,151,067
Deemed distribution to E-House associated with tax liability	$ 571,227		$ 571,227
PRC
Income Tax
Undistributed earnings		247,853,947
Provision for Chinese dividend withholding taxes		$ 0
Preferential withholding tax rate (as a percent)		5.00%
PRC \| Minimum
Income Tax
Deferred income tax liability for the undistributed earnings		$ 12,392,698
Withholding income tax rate for dividends distributed (as a percent)		5.00%
PRC \| Maximum
Income Tax
Deferred income tax liability for the undistributed earnings		$ 24,785,395
Withholding income tax rate for dividends distributed (as a percent)		10.00%

Share-Based Compensation - Share Incentive Plan, Share Options, Binomial Model Assumptions (Details) - $ / shares				1 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Aug. 11, 2015	Aug. 21, 2014	Mar. 18, 2014	Jan. 31, 2014	Nov. 30, 2013	Aug. 31, 2013	Nov. 30, 2012	Oct. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2006	Aug. 31, 2016
Leju Plan
Share-Based Compensation
Increase percentage of the then total outstanding shares on an as-converted fully diluted basis					5.00%
Number of ordinary shares increased									7,553,422
Expiration period					10 years
Leju Plan \| Maximum
Share-Based Compensation
Number of shares that may be issued as a percentage of total outstanding shares					8.00%
Leju Plan \| Employees Share Options
Assumptions used in the binomial model
Risk-free rate of return (as a percent)										2.14%
Contractual life of option										10 years
Estimated volatility rate (as a percent)										62.82%
Dividend yield (as a percent)										2.56%
Leju Plan \| Employees Share Options \| Group's employees
Share-Based Compensation
Expiration period										10 years
Options granted for purchase of shares										2,517,000
Award vesting period										3 years
Leju Plan \| Employees Share Options \| Minimum \| Group's employees
Share-Based Compensation
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)										$ 5.54
Leju Plan \| Employees Share Options \| Maximum \| Group's employees
Share-Based Compensation
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)										$ 9.68
Leju Plan \| Restricted Shares \| Group's employees, directors and officers
Share-Based Compensation
Restricted shares granted		229,400	866,000
Award vesting period		8 months	3 years
Leju Plan \| Leju Replacement Restricted Shares
Share-Based Compensation
Number of replacement awards exchanged with replaced awards (in shares)				60,000
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)				$ 4.60
E-House Plan
Share-Based Compensation
Number of shares that may be issued as a percentage of total outstanding shares												5.00%
Expiration period												10 years
Number of shares authorized												3,636,364
Award grant period												3 years
Additional number of shares authorized						6,644,659	1,273,000	4,013,619
Purchase price (in dollars per share)													$ 6.85
E-House Plan \| Restricted Shares
Share-Based Compensation
Restricted shares granted									0	0	1,439,000
Award vesting period									3 years
Omnigold Plan
Share-Based Compensation
Number of shares that may be issued as a percentage of total outstanding shares										5.00%
Number of shares authorized										5,000,000
Omnigold Plan \| Employees Share Options
Share-Based Compensation
Expiration period	10 years
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)	$ 1.50
Options granted for purchase of shares	2,400,000
Award vesting period	3 years
Assumptions used in the binomial model
Risk-free rate of return (as a percent)										3.33%
Contractual life of option										10 years
Estimated volatility rate (as a percent)										63.69%
Dividend yield (as a percent)										0.00%

Share-Based Compensation - Options (Details) - USD ($)		1 Months Ended	4 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Share-Based Compensation - Options (Details) - USD ($)	Aug. 11, 2015	Aug. 31, 2015	Apr. 16, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Leju Plan \| Employees Share Options
Number of Options
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in shares)				8,063,718
Exercised (in shares)				(66,424)	(196,185)	(266,201)
Forfeited (in shares)				(250,911)
Outstanding at end of the year (in shares)				7,746,383	8,063,718
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year (in shares)				7,660,828
Exercisable at end of the year (in shares)				6,190,050
Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in dollars per share)				$ 5.12
Exercised (in dollars per share)				4.60
Forfeited (in dollars per share)				5.83
Outstanding at end of the year (in dollars per share)				5.11	$ 5.12
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year (in dollars per share)				5.09
Exercisable at end of the year (in dollars per share)				$ 4.82
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term
Outstanding at end of the year				7 years 6 months	8 years 6 months
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year				7 years 5 months 23 days
Exercisable at end of the year				7 years 1 month 28 days
Weighted Average Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
Outstanding at beginning of the year				$ 4,806,104
Exercised				43,253	$ 949,907	$ 1,668,693
Outstanding at end of the year					4,806,104
Additional disclosure
Compensation expense				5,576,034	4,025,809	3,464,140
Deemed distribution				$ 883,286	$ 1,070,383	$ 1,061,412
Weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted (in dollars per share)					$ 3.44
Total unrecognized compensation expense					$ 4,856,551
Weighted-average period over which cost is expected to be recognized					1 year 9 months 29 days
E-House Plan
Additional disclosure
Compensation expense			$ 572,340
E-House Plan \| Employees Share Options
Number of Options
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in shares)				8,956,283
Exercised (in shares)				(153,734)	(513,261)	(3,446,585)
Forfeited (in shares)				(4,000)
Redemption upon delisting (in shares)				(8,798,549)
Outstanding at end of the year (in shares)					8,956,283
Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in dollars per share)				$ 4.67
Exercised (in dollars per share)				3.95
Forfeited (in dollars per share)				5.37
Redemption upon delisting (in dollars per share)				$ 4.69
Outstanding at end of the year (in dollars per share)					$ 4.67
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term
Outstanding at end of the year					4 years 9 months 18 days
Weighted Average Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
Outstanding at beginning of the year				$ 14,509,178
Exercised				371,082	$ 1,745,007	$ 23,679,729
Outstanding at end of the year					14,509,178
Additional disclosure
Compensation expense				0	0	$ 5,950,940
Total unrecognized compensation expense				0
Omnigold Plan
Additional disclosure
Compensation expense				226,951	$ 80,577
Weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted (in dollars per share)		$ 0.30
Total unrecognized compensation expense				$ 337,063
Weighted-average period over which cost is expected to be recognized				1 year 7 months 10 days
Omnigold Plan \| Employees Share Options
Number of Options
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in shares)				2,270,000
Forfeited (in shares)				(65,000)
Outstanding at end of the year (in shares)				2,205,000	2,270,000
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year (in shares)				2,056,473
Exercisable at end of the year (in shares)				756,667
Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in dollars per share)				$ 1.50
Granted (in dollars per share)	$ 1.50
Forfeited (in dollars per share)				1.50
Outstanding at end of the year (in dollars per share)				1.50	$ 1.50
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year (in dollars per share)				1.50
Exercisable at end of the year (in dollars per share)				$ 1.50
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term
Outstanding at end of the year				8 years 7 months 10 days	9 years 7 months 10 days
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year				8 years 7 months 10 days
Exercisable at end of the year				8 years 7 months 10 days

Share-Based Compensation - Restricted Shares (Details) - USD ($)	4 Months Ended	8 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 16, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Leju Plan \| Restricted Shares
Summary of restricted share activity
Unvested at beginning of the year (in shares)			797,336
Vested (in shares)			(506,664)
Forfeited (in shares)			(30,668)
Unvested at end of the year (in shares)			260,004	797,336
Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
Unvested at beginning of the year (in dollars per share)			$ 8.82
Vested (in dollars per share)			7.38
Forfeited (in dollars per share)			11.34
Unvested at end of the year (in dollars per share)			$ 11.33	$ 8.82
Additional disclosure
Deemed distribution			$ 34,594	$ 41,580	$ 41,570
Total fair value of restricted shares vested			3,737,772	7,179,455	486,200
Total unrecognized compensation expense			$ 691,160
Weighted-average period over which cost is expected to be recognized			2 months 16 days
Compensation expense			$ 3,248,658	5,273,322	$ 4,881,656
E-House Plan
Additional disclosure
Compensation expense	$ 572,340
Transitional corporate service fees		$ 1,857,996	$ 1,254,915	$ 1,066,477
E-House Plan \| Restricted Shares
Summary of restricted share activity
Award vesting period			3 years
Unvested at beginning of the year (in shares)			1,358,715
Granted (in shares)			0	0	1,439,000
Vested (in shares)			(46,335)
Redemption upon delisting (in shares)			(1,312,380)
Unvested at end of the year (in shares)				1,358,715
Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
Unvested at beginning of the year (in dollars per share)			$ 8.50
Vested (in dollars per share)			$ 10.70
Unvested at end of the year (in dollars per share)				$ 8.50
Additional disclosure
Total fair value of restricted shares vested			$ 495,644	$ 9,909,868	$ 6,094,602
Total unrecognized compensation expense			0
Compensation expense			$ 12,317,769	$ 9,680,385	$ 6,174,583

Share-Based Compensation - Other Equity Compensation (Details) - Group of five employees - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Other Equity Compensation
Recognition period of stock based compensation expense	2 years
Compensation expense		$ 1,603,805	$ 2,138,404
Total unrecognized compensation expense	$ 4,276,810	$ 0	$ 1,603,805

Distribution of Profits (Details) - PRC - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Distribution of Profits (Details) - PRC - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Distribution of profits
Minimum percentage of after-tax profit transferred by subsidiaries and VIEs to fund a statutory reserve	10.00%
Threshold percentage of after-tax income required to be appropriated towards reserve until the reserve balance reaches a specified percentage of the registered capital	50.00%
Reserve fund	$ 8,294,282	$ 7,990,298
Restricted net assets	34,082,822	33,778,838
VIEs
Distribution of profits
Restricted net assets of subsidiaries and VIEs attributed to general reserve and registered capital	$ 8,214,564	$ 8,342,759

Segment Information (Details)	12 Months Ended
Segment Information (Details)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) item
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	$ 559,511,110	$ 575,803,936	$ 496,022,873
Net accounts receivable	71,390,171	113,991,480
Accounts receivable \| Customer risk \| Customer A
Revenue information of the Group
Net accounts receivable	$ 11,694,364	$ 14,011,827
Revenue \| Customer risk
Revenue information of the Group
Number of customers \| item	0	0	0
E-commerce
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	$ 419,023,733	$ 420,552,177	$ 326,679,871
Online advertising
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	117,948,842	134,229,255	155,049,818
Listing
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	$ 22,538,535	$ 21,022,504	$ 14,293,184

Related Party Balances and Transactions (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015
Significant related party transactions
Dividends	$ 26,873,022		$ 26,873,022
Loan from E-House		$ 89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House		87,600,000	42,513,286
Due from related parties					$ 6,019,121	$ 8,906
Amounts due to related parties					1,581,349	10,214,007
Rollforward of payable (receivable) balance
Loan from E-House		89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House		(87,600,000)	(42,513,286)
Dividend paid	$ (26,873,022)		(26,873,022)
Ordinary Shares
Significant related party transactions
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)							$ 0.20
ADSs
Significant related party transactions
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)							0.20
E-House
Significant related party transactions
Corporate expenses allocated from E-House				$ 2,857,251
Corporate service provided under transitional service agreement		8,585,821	6,040,071	10,399,978
Services purchased from/rental paid		3,570,474	5,927,764	1,191,469
Online advertising services provided		94,548	28,679	160,238
Dividends			18,738,984
Loan from E-House		89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House		87,600,000	42,513,286
Cash dividends			18,738,984
Due from related parties					6,019,121
Amounts due to related parties						7,783,911
Rollforward of payable (receivable) balance
Balance at beginning of the year		7,783,911	1,560,283	(3,471,958)
Loan from E-House		89,462,593
Refund loan to E-House		(87,600,000)	(42,513,286)
Dividend declared			18,738,984
Dividend paid			(18,738,984)
Corporate expenses allocated from E-House				2,857,251
Corporate service provided under transitional service agreement		8,585,821	6,040,071	10,399,978
Revenues collected by E-House on behalf of the Company				(4,803,958)
Related party balance waived as capital contribution				(2,857,251)
Service provided to E-House		(94,548)	(28,679)	(160,238)
Service purchased from E-House		3,570,474	5,927,764	1,191,469
Net (payment) receipt for services		(27,727,372)	36,797,758	(1,595,010)
Balance at end of the year		$ (6,019,121)	7,783,911	1,560,283
Percentage of dues waived		100.00%
Due from related party					0
Amount due to/(from) E-House
Loan payable to E-House					1,862,593
Service payable to E-House						16,440,049
Receivables for E-House collection on behalf of the Company					(7,881,714)	(8,656,138)
Amounts due to/(from) E-House		$ 7,783,911	1,560,283	(3,471,958)	(6,019,121)	7,783,911
E-House \| Ordinary Shares
Significant related party transactions
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)							0.20
E-House \| ADSs
Significant related party transactions
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)							$ 0.20
SINA
Significant related party transactions
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased		9,841,434	6,093,974	$ 6,630,010
Online advertising services provided		1,441	19,899
Amounts due to related parties					$ 1,557,078	1,418,096
Rollforward of payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House		(1,441)	(19,899)
CRERAT
Significant related party transactions
Services purchased from/rental paid		56,928
Online advertising services provided			3,174
Due from related parties						8,906
Rollforward of payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House			$ (3,174)
Service purchased from E-House		56,928
Baoku
Significant related party transactions
Services purchased from/rental paid		7,454
Online advertising services provided		7,752
Rollforward of payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House		(7,752)
Service purchased from E-House		7,454
Baoku I&T
Significant related party transactions
Online advertising services provided		140,639
Rollforward of payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House		$ (140,639)
QuanZhuYi
Related Party Balances and Transactions
Equity interest (as a percent)					13.50%
Significant related party transactions
Amounts due to related parties					$ 24,271
Management
Significant related party transactions
Amounts due to related parties						920,000
E-House Management
Significant related party transactions
Amounts due to related parties						$ 92,000
E-House \| CRERAT
Related Party Balances and Transactions
Ownership percentage					51.00%

Commitments and Contingencies (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Operating lease commitments
Rental expenses	$ 9,984,844	$ 10,078,033	$ 8,601,039
Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating lease agreements
2017	8,839,443
2018	5,204,094
2019	2,384,704
2020	1,166,878
2021	565,736
Then thereafter	738,335
Total	$ 18,899,190
Minimum
Operating lease commitments
Operating lease term	1 month
Maximum
Operating lease commitments
Operating lease term	108 months

Subsequent Events (Details) - Leju Plan - $ / shares		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Subsequent Events (Details) - Leju Plan - $ / shares	Mar. 29, 2017	Nov. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2015
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Expiration period		10 years
Group's employees \| Employees Share Options
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Options granted for purchase of shares			2,517,000
Expiration period			10 years
Award vesting period			3 years
Group's employees \| Employees Share Options \| Subsequent events
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Options granted for purchase of shares	2,135,000
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)	$ 3.24
Expiration period	10 years
Award vesting period	3 years

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Parenthetical)	12 Months Ended
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Parenthetical)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
Issuance costs	$ 15,036,616

Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Employee Benefit Plans
Contribution by group	$ 22,350,656	$ 20,413,820	$ 17,727,125