Document and Entity Information	12 Months Ended
Document and Entity Information	Dec. 31, 2017 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, 2017
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	Non-accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	135,763,962
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 150,967,996	$ 274,337,674
Restricted cash	336,690
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $31,160,340 and $21,827,663 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively	80,606,130	71,390,171
Marketable securities	3,077,412	2,181,354
Customer deposits	35,822,756	39,702,416
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	9,945,011	12,755,710
Amounts due from related parties	4,077,008	6,019,121
Total current assets	284,833,003	406,386,446
Property and equipment, net	14,240,120	7,923,027
Intangible assets, net	70,631,146	78,373,616
Investment in affiliates	145,727	408,851
Goodwill		39,018,058
Deferred tax assets	67,083,641	41,698,296
Other non-current assets	2,010,712	2,058,633
TOTAL ASSETS	438,944,349	575,866,927
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable (including accounts payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $1,573,620 and $1,771,717 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	2,949,725	1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses (including accrued payroll and welfare expenses of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $29,742,853 and $28,021,779 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	37,081,532	41,727,577
Income tax payable (including income tax payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $29,890,262 and $25,705,206 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	63,380,153	66,147,522
Other tax payable (including other tax payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $13,360,481 and $11,166,308 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	11,654,145	16,678,264
Amounts due to related parties (including amounts due to related parties of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $1,581,349 and $1,245,000 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	3,092,870	1,581,349
Advances from customers and deferred revenue (including advance from customers and deferred revenue of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $4,960,924 and $10,050,703 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	10,564,818	5,058,212
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses (including liability for accrued marketing and advertising expenses of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $6,271,191 and $14,117,697 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	18,851,999	9,355,409
Other current liabilities (including other current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $6,809,176 and $15,606,182 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	16,315,380	8,516,123
Total current liabilities	163,890,622	150,638,076
Deferred tax liabilities (including deferred tax liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Leju of $533,401 and $414,505 as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively)	18,016,186	18,869,374
Total liabilities	181,906,808	169,507,450
Commitments and contingencies (Note 15)
Shareholders' Equity:
Ordinary shares ($0.001 par value): 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 135,503,958 and 135,763,962 shares issued and outstanding, as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively	135,764	135,504
Additional paid-in capital	788,588,692	785,019,254
Accumulated deficit	(515,344,274)	(354,364,813)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(13,077,311)	(22,321,234)
Total Leju Holdings Limited Shareholders' Equity	260,302,871	408,468,711
Non-controlling interests	(3,265,330)	(2,109,234)
Total equity	257,037,541	406,359,477
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY	$ 438,944,349	$ 575,866,927

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 21,827,663	$ 31,160,340
Accounts payable	2,949,725	1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	37,081,532	41,727,577
Income tax payable	63,380,153	66,147,522
Other tax payable	11,654,145	16,678,264
Amounts due to related parties	3,092,870	1,581,349
Advances from customers and deferred revenue	10,564,818	5,058,212
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses	18,851,999	9,355,409
Other current liabilities	16,315,380	8,516,123
Deferred tax liabilities	$ 18,016,186	$ 18,869,374
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Common stock, shares authorized	1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000
Common stock, shares issued	135,763,962	135,503,958
Common stock, shares outstanding	135,763,962	135,503,958
Consolidated VIEs without recourse
Accounts payable	$ 1,771,717	$ 1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	28,021,779	29,742,853
Income tax payable	25,705,206	29,890,262
Other tax payable	11,166,308	13,360,481
Amounts due to related parties	1,245,000	1,581,349
Advances from customers and deferred revenue	10,050,703	4,960,924
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses	14,117,697	6,271,191
Other current liabilities	15,606,182	6,809,176
Deferred tax liabilities	$ 414,505	$ 533,401

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Revenues
E-commerce	$ 234,835,770	$ 419,023,733	$ 420,552,177
Online advertising	113,235,010	117,948,842	134,229,255
Listing	14,461,253	22,538,535	21,022,504
Total revenues	362,532,033	559,511,110	575,803,936
Cost of revenues	(74,054,524)	(57,491,395)	(60,313,726)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(434,275,879)	(521,797,022)	(475,445,516)
Goodwill impairment	(41,222,971)	0	0
Other operating income	3,071,865	4,586,746	3,567,965
Income (loss) from operations	(183,949,476)	(15,190,561)	43,612,659
Interest income	1,313,512	1,312,533	1,167,005
Other income, net	480,495	619,750	290,039
Gain (loss) on disposal of investment or subsidiaries		(185,777)	271,501
Income (loss) before taxes and loss from equity in affiliates	(182,155,469)	(13,444,055)	45,341,204
Income tax benefits (expenses)	20,328,252	2,067,739	(10,307,322)
Income (loss) before loss from equity in affiliates	(161,827,217)	(11,376,316)	35,033,882
Loss from equity in affiliates	(216,017)	(224,752)	(227,977)
Net income (loss)	(162,043,234)	(11,601,068)	34,805,905
Less: Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest	(1,142,018)	(1,812,229)	(524,184)
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju Holdings Limited shareholders	$ (160,901,216)	$ (9,788,839)	$ 35,330,089
Earnings (loss) per share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ (1.19)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ (1.19)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26
Shares used in computation of earnings (loss) per share
Basic (in shares)	135,708,350	135,220,210	134,528,971
Diluted (in shares)	135,708,350	135,220,210	136,223,974

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
Net income (loss)	$ (162,043,234)	$ (11,601,068)	$ 34,805,905
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax of nil:
Foreign currency translation adjustments	9,136,839	(16,760,659)	(10,586,435)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(152,906,395)	(28,361,727)	24,219,470
Less: Comprehensive loss attributable to non-controlling interests	(1,249,102)	(1,771,012)	(559,409)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Leju Holdings Limited shareholders	$ (151,657,293)	$ (26,590,715)	$ 24,778,879

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY - USD ($)	Total Leju Holdings Limited Shareholders' Equity	Ordinary Shares	Additional Paid-in Capital	Accumulated Deficit	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	Subscription Receivable	Non-controlling Interests	Total
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)
Dividends 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
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Net income (loss)	(9,788,839)			(9,788,839)			(1,812,229)	(11,601,068)
Capital injection from non-controlling interests							296,959	296,959
Disposal of a subsidiary	2,189				2,189		(189,618)	(187,429)
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)
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
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Net income (loss)	(160,901,216)			(160,901,216)			(1,142,018)	$ (162,043,234)
Non-controlling interests recognized in connection with business acquisition							59,595	59,595
Share-based compensation	3,491,453		3,569,698	(78,245)			33,411	3,524,864
Vesting of restricted shares		$ 260	(260)
Vesting of restricted shares ( in shares)		260,004
Foreign currency translation adjustments	9,243,923				9,243,923		(107,084)	9,136,839
Balance at Dec. 31, 2017	$ 260,302,871	$ 135,764	$ 788,588,692	$ (515,344,274)	$ (13,077,311)		$ (3,265,330)	$ 257,037,541
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2017		135,763,962						135,763,962

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Operating activities:
Net income (loss)	$ (162,043,234)	$ (11,601,068)	$ 34,805,905
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	16,544,668	15,006,676	29,279,835
Loss from equity in affiliates	216,017	224,752	227,977
Loss (gain) on disposal of investment or subsidiaries		185,777	(271,501)
Provision for allowance for doubtful accounts	4,399,176	14,797,072	18,959,895
Share-based compensation	3,524,864	10,655,448	11,518,112
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	(911,873)	(180,112)
Goodwill impairment	41,222,971	0	0
Others	681,343	524,810	274,263
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Restricted cash	(336,690)
Accounts receivable	(18,751,344)	23,454,688	(12,189,414)
Marketable securities		(2,001,242)
Customer deposits	3,456,913	18,887,756	(58,833,225)
Amounts due from related parties	3,804,706	(7,872,808)	(8,222)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(1,201,142)	9,310,657	(8,334,672)
Other non-current assets	69,531	17,136	(264,398)
Accounts payable	1,226,158	1,230,644	(42,576)
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	(5,152,301)	(3,954,784)	(2,265,584)
Income tax payable	(3,068,915)	(646,293)	9,774,416
Other tax payable	(5,571,572)	(15,401,042)	4,214,594
Amounts due to related parties	1,511,521	(7,620,658)	48,449,802
Other current liabilities and accrued expenses	20,269,099	5,507,463	(16,319,318)
Deferred tax assets	(22,152,629)	(11,399,496)	(4,605,135)
Deferred tax liabilities	(2,242,038)	(4,016,850)	(3,095,758)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities	(124,504,771)	35,108,526	51,274,996
Investing activities:
Deposits for and purchases of property and equipment and intangible assets	(2,526,921)	(4,243,386)	(14,810,650)
Investment in affiliates			(369,595)
Cash paid for business acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(5,878,393)
Cash outflow due to disposal of a subsidiary		(129,643)
Proceeds from disposal of property and equipment	293,704	57,186	80,472
Net cash used in investing activities	(8,111,610)	(4,315,843)	(15,099,773)
Financing activities:
Contribution from non-controlling interest shareholders		296,959
Proceeds of loans from related parties		89,462,593
Repayment of loans to related parties	(1,862,593)	(87,600,000)	(42,513,286)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests			(10,260)
Proceeds from exercise of options		314,750	1,582,240
Acquisition of non-controlling interest of subsidiaries		(7,079,295)	(17,360,080)
Dividends to shareholders			(26,873,022)
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,862,593)	(4,604,993)	(85,174,408)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	11,109,296	(12,145,925)	(8,515,962)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(123,369,678)	14,041,765	(57,515,147)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year	274,337,674	260,295,909	317,811,056
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	150,967,996	274,337,674	260,295,909
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Income taxes paid	10,256,545	10,199,779	5,196,133
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Non-controlling interest recognized in connection with business acquisition	$ 59,595
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
Payables for acquisition of non-controlling interest			$ (7,338,593)

Organization and Principal Activities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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 for the real estate and home furnishing industries 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 December 30, 2016, E-House Holdings repurchased all its ordinary shares held by SINA Corporation (“SINA”) for a total consideration consisting of 40,651,187 ordinary shares of Leju and of $129,038,150 in cash. As a result of this transaction, E-House Holdings ceased to be Leju’s controlling shareholder but remains as the largest shareholder and SINA became a principal shareholder of Leju from December 30, 2016.

The following table lists major subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs of the Company as of December 31, 2017:

	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 Services 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

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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.

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 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 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 the 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, each of the respective Foreign Owned Subsidiaries has 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 has irrevocably granted 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,
	2016	2017
	$	$
Cash and cash equivalents	89,160,450	57,745,894
Restricted cash	—	336,690
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	62,212,257	68,844,766
Customer deposits	12,061,362	8,648,959
Amounts due from related parties	1,259,992	4,077,008
Other current assets	1,374,518	5,987,132

Total current assets	166,068,579	145,640,449
Total non-current assets	51,697,208	56,767,649

Total assets	217,765,787	202,408,098

Accounts payable	1,573,620	1,771,717
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	29,742,853	28,021,779
Income tax payable	29,890,262	25,705,206
Other tax payable	13,360,481	11,166,308
Amounts due to related parties	1,581,349	1,245,000
Advances from customers	4,960,924	10,050,703
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses	6,271,191	14,117,697
Other current liabilities	6,809,176	15,606,182

Total current liabilities	94,189,856	107,684,592
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	533,401	414,505

Total liabilities	94,723,257	108,099,097

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Total revenues	558,714,556		540,838,424		357,698,260
Cost of revenues	(48,032,280	)	(45,641,656	)	(64,947,541	)
Net income (loss)	3,307,694		2,286,007		(4,453,820	)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities	41,577,844		43,652,445		(33,297,103	)
Net cash used in investing activities	(13,884,075	)	(1,945,215	)	(2,551,687	)
Net cash used in financing activities	(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) to determine the fair value of marketable securities.

There are no assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

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) Restricted cash

In 2017, the Group was involved in a lawsuit for the settlement of certain marketing expenses and paid deposit to a restricted bank account monitored by the court.

(h) 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 as other income (loss). The fair value of marketable securities is based upon the quoted price in an active market for identical instruments (Level 1).

(i) Customer deposits

The Group provides online real estate e-commerce services for customers. Some real estate developers require the Group to pay an upfront and refundable deposit to obtain the exclusive right to provide e-commerce services for a real estate development project. These deposits are refunded to the Group subject to certain pre-determined criteria specified in the deposit agreement. 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, 2017, all customer deposit are refundable within 12 months and none of them passed the original due date.

(j) 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, 2016 and 2017, the Group determined that no such events were present.

(k) 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.

(l) Intangible assets, net

Acquired intangible assets mainly consist of the 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.

(m) 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 flow 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 will recognize an impairment loss equal to the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of the assets.

(n) Impairment of goodwill

The Group evaluates the recoverability of goodwill annually or more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change in the interim that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of the asset below its carrying amount. Goodwill is considered to be impaired when the carrying value of a reporting unit or asset exceeds its fair value. The Group currently has only one reporting unit: Leju online segment.

In the evaluation of goodwill for impairment, the Group first assesses qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. If the Group determines that it is not more likely than not for a reporting unit’s fair value to be less than its carrying value, a calculation of the fair value is not performed. If the Group determines that it is more likely than not for a reporting unit’s fair value to be less than its carrying value, a calculation of the reporting unit’s fair value is performed and compared to the carrying value of that unit. An impairment loss is recorded equal to the excess of the reporting unit’s carrying value over its fair value in accordance with ASU 2017-04, lntangible - Goodwill and Others (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill lmpairment, which the Group has early adopted in 2017.

Generally, the Group measures fair value of reporting units based on a present value of future discounted cash flows and an income valuation approach. The discounted cash flow models indicate the fair value of the reporting units based on the present value of the cash flow that the reporting units are expected to generate in the future. Significant estimates in the discounted cash flow models include: the weighted average cost of capital; long-term rate of growth and profitability of the Group’s business; and working capital effects. 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.

(o) 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.

(p) Share-based compensation

Share-based compensation cost is measured on the grant date of the share award, 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.

(q) 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 transaction. The Group provides property viewing and presale 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 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.

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

(r) 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.

(s) Marketing and advertising expenses

Marketing and advertising expenses consists primarily of targeted online and offline marketing costs for promoting the Group’s 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 Group 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 Group’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 $306,846,482, $345,862,479 and $292,076,010 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

(t) 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 $156,641, $64,650 and exchange loss $619,269 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively, as a component of other income, net, in the consolidated statements of operations.

(u) Government subsidies

Government subsidies include cash subsidies received by the Company’s subsidiaries and VIEs 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 $3,567,965, $4,586,746 and $3,071,865 were included in other operating income for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. Subsidies are recognized when cash is received and when all the conditions for their receipt have been satisfied.

(v) 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,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	15,471,020		26,350,814		31,160,340
Provisions for doubtful accounts	18,959,895		14,797,072		4,399,176
Write offs	(6,827,314	)	(8,081,575	)	(15,325,934	)
Changes due to foreign exchange	(1,252,787	)	(1,905,971	)	1,594,081

Balance as of December 31	26,350,814		31,160,340		21,827,663

The allowance for other receivable in prepaid expenses and other current assets was nil for all periods presented.

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

	As of December 31,
	2016	2017
	$	$
Customer A	11,694,364	24,387,044

(w) 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,
	2015		2016			2017
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted	$	35,330,089	$	(9,788,839	)	(160,901,216	)

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic	134,528,971		135,220,210			135,708,350

Stock options and restricted shares	1,695,003		—			—
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted	136,223,974		135,220,210			135,708,350

Basic earnings (loss) per share	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)	(1.19	)

Diluted earnings (loss) per share	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)	(1.19	)

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
Share options and restricted shares	2,464,500	7,746,383	8,818,877

(x) 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.

(y) 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.

(z) Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncement

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. Due to continued declines in real estate market, the Group decided to perform an interim impairment review analysis on the Group’s goodwill as of June 30, 2017. To simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill, the Group early adopted ASU 2017-04 as of this interim review date and applied the standard on a prospective basis.

(aa) Recently issued accounting pronouncements

In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standards update ASU 2014-09 that changes the revenue recognition for companies that enter into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services. The standard is a comprehensive new revenue recognition model that requires revenue to be recognized in a manner depicting the transfer of goods or services to a customer at an amount that reflects the consideration expected to be received in exchange for those goods or services. The FASB has also issued a number of updates to this standard. The Group adopted the standard on January 1, 2018. According to ASU 2014-09, companies may use either a full retrospective or a modified retrospective approach to adopt this standard.

The Group anticipated to implement this standard effective January 1, 2018 on a full retrospective basis. The Group currently recognizes E-commerce revenue upon confirmation letters which were signed by property buyers when they redeem coupons, and the legal title would be transferred to property buyers as well as the significant risks and rewards of ownership of the asset when the transaction completes. For online advertising and listing, revenue are currently recognized at the ratio upon the schedule agreed in contract with customers, and the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits provided by the entity’s performance as the entity performs. The Group has substantially completed its evaluation of the impact on the adoption of the new revenue standard and does not expect the adoption to have a material effect on its financial statements. Therefore, the Group do not anticipate that there will be a significant impact to its revenue recognition practices, internal controls, financial positions, results of operations or cash flows. The new standard will require the Group to provide more robust disclosures than required by previous guidance, including disclosures related to disaggregation of revenue into appropriate categories, performance obligations, and the judgments made in revenue recognition determinations.

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 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 adoption of this standard will not materially impact on the Group’s consolidated financial statements.

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 February, 2017, the FASB issued a new pronouncement, ASU 2017-05, which clarifies the scope of the Board’s guidance on nonfinancial asset derecognition (ASC 610-20) as well as the accounting for partial sales of nonfinancial assets. The ASU conforms the derecognition guidance on nonfinancial assets with the model for transactions in the new revenue standard (ASC 606, as amended).The ASU clarifies that ASC 610-20 applies to the derecognition of all nonfinancial assets and in-substance nonfinancial assets. While the guidance in ASC 360-20 contained references to in-substance assets (e.g., in-substance real estate), it would not have applied to transactions outside of real estate. The FASB therefore added the definition of an in-substance nonfinancial asset to the ASC master glossary. Further, the ASU amends the industry-specific guidance in ASC 970-323 to align it with the requirements in ASC 606 and ASC 610-20. It also eliminates ASC 360-20 as well as the initial-measurement guidance on nonmonetary transactions in ASC 845-10-30 to simplify the accounting for partial sales (i.e., entities would use the same guidance to account for similar transactions) and to remove inconsistencies between ASC 610-20 and the noncash consideration guidance in the new revenue standard. As a result of these changes, any transfer of a nonfinancial asset in exchange for the noncontrolling ownership interest in another entity (including a noncontrolling ownership interest in a joint venture or other equity method investment) should be accounted for in accordance with ASC 610-20. The effective date of the new guidance is aligned with the requirements in the new revenue standard, which is effective for public entities for annual reporting periods (including interim reporting periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2017. If the entity decides to early adopt the ASU’s guidance, it must also early adopt ASC 606 (and vice versa). The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In May, 2017, the FASB issued a new pronouncement, ASU 2017-09, which amends the scope of modification accounting for share-based payment arrangements. The ASU provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modification accounting under ASC 718. Specifically, an entity would not apply modification accounting if the fair value, vesting conditions, and classification of the awards are the same immediately before and after the modification. For all entities, the ASU is effective for annual reporting periods, including interim periods within those annual reporting periods, beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period. The Group is in the process of evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

Business Acquisition

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Business Acquisition

Business Acquisition

3. Business Acquisition

In May 2017, the Group acquired a live-broadcasting application (“App”) with all its related software copyrights and personnel from Shanghai Yunchuang Information & Technology Ltd. (“Yunchuang”), which was ultimately controlled by Mr. Xin Zhou, Leju’s executive chairman for an aggregate purchase price of $6,000,000. The primary reason for the acquisition was to expand the Group’s channel and platform for attracting property buyers and increasing media exposure and influence.

The transaction was accounted for using the purchase method with the purchase price allocated as follows:

			Amortization
	Allocated value		period
	$
Software	5,430,000		3 years
Goodwill	1,927,500
Deferred tax liabilities	(1,357,500	)


Total	6,000,000

The goodwill mainly reflects the synergies related to cost for sales and distribution and competitive advantages the Group expects to realize from the living-broadcasting App, which do not qualify for seperate recognition of intangible assets. The goodwill is not deductible for tax purpose. The acquisition was not material to the Group’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, and as such, pro forma results of operations were not presented. Goodwill resulted from this acquisition was assigned to the whole group.

Property and Equipment, Net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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,
	2016		2017
	$		$
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	14,129,811		12,886,210
Leasehold improvements	5,969,254		6,459,239
Buildings	593,146		7,517,133
Motor vehicles	1,717,806		1,668,530


Total	22,410,017		28,531,112
Accumulated depreciation	(14,486,990	)	(14,290,992	)


Property and equipment, net	7,923,027		14,240,120

Depreciation expenses were $2,626,264, $2,579,726 and $3,078,955 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Intangible Assets, Net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Intangible Assets, Net

Intangible Assets, Net

5. Intangible Assets, Net

	As of December 31,		Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period in Years
	2016	2017
	$	$
Intangible assets subject to amortization are comprised of the following:
Advertising agency agreement with SINA	106,790,000	106,790,000	6.25
License agreements with SINA	80,660,000	80,660,000	6.25
Exclusive rights with Baidu	50,639,152	—	—
Customer relationship	10,269,891	10,512,212	1.75
Database license	8,300,000	8,300,000	0.25
Non-compete agreements	1,489,800	—	—
Computer software licenses	1,056,540	6,422,913	2.33


	259,205,383	212,685,125	5.93

Less: Accumulated amortization
Advertising agency agreement	63,396,382	69,451,305
License agreements with SINA	48,384,797	52,888,314
Exclusive rights with Baidu	50,639,152	—
Customer relationship	8,975,366	9,798,432
Database license	7,079,413	8,055,884
Non-compete agreements	1,489,800	—
Computer software licenses	866,857	1,860,044


Intangible assets subject to amortization, net	78,373,616	70,631,146


Total intangible assets, net	78,373,616	70,631,146

The advertising agency agreement and license agreements with SINA were recognized in connection with the Group’s acquisition of China Online Housing Technology Corporation (“COHT”) in 2009, and provide the Group with exclusive rights to operate SINA’s real estate and home furnishing related channels and 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 the 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 were extended by five years to 2024 for no additional consideration. All other terms of the agreements remain the same.

Amortization expenses were $26,653,571, $12,426,950 and $13,465,713 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. The Group expects to record amortization expenses of $13,239,872, $12,716,484, $11,239,323, $10,558,498 and $10,558,498 for the years ending December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Goodwill

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill

Goodwill

6. Goodwill

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 are as follows:

	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	40,563,075		39,807,243		39,018,058
Goodwill recognized upon acquisition (Note 3)	—		—		1,927,500
Impairment	—		—		(41,222,971	)
Exchange rate translation	(755,832	)	(789,185	)	277,413


Balance as of December 31	39,807,243		39,018,058		—

The Group operates and manages its business as a single segment and a reporting unit, as such goodwill is assigned to the Group as a whole.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, China’s real estate market showed signs of slowdown under the government’s continued restrictive policies and further credit tightening. Local governments in more than 20 cities issued notices to restrict real estate purchases. In 2017, many local governments of both first-tier and second-tier cities have also promulgated various policies to impose restrictions or eligibility requirements on real estate buyers. It is uncertain for how long these measures will remain in effect, and whether the central or local governments will further tighten their policies. The Group’s revenue growth started to slow down as developers became more pessimistic about increasing sales volume and more cautious with their marketing spending. The Group believed that this resulted in slower than previously expected growth for its business over the next several years. In addition, the Company experienced a 43% decline in its stock price from March 31, 2017 to June 30, 2017. After assessing these circumstances, the Group determined that it was more likely than not that the fair value of the Group was less than its carrying amount. As a result, an interim quantitative goodwill impairment test was performed as of June 30, 2017.

The Group utilized the income approach valuation method (Level 3) to compute the fair value of its reporting unit. The key assumptions used in the income approach, which requires significant management judgment, include business assumptions, 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. The Group applied a discount rate of 16% and terminal growth rate of 3% in estimating its fair value.

Based on the quantitative test performed, the Group concluded that the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeded its fair value. Consequently, an impairment of goodwill in the amount of $41,222,971 was recognized in 2017.

There was no goodwill impairment recognized for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016, respectively, based on the annual impairment tests performed.

Other Income, Net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Other Income, Net

Other Income, Net

8. Other Income, Net

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	—	180,112	911,873
Foreign exchange gain (loss)	156,641	64,650	(619,269	)
Others	133,398	374,988	187,891


Total	290,039	619,750	480,495

Income Tax

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Income (loss) before income taxes:
PRC	70,382,855		8,742,444		(133,775,542	)
Outside of PRC	(25,041,651	)	(22,186,499	)	(48,379,927	)


Total	45,341,204		(13,444,055	)	(182,155,469	)

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Current Tax
PRC	17,990,790		13,331,921		4,059,702
Outside of PRC	17,425		16,686		6,713


	18,008,215		13,348,607		4,066,415


Deferred Tax
PRC	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)	(24,394,667	)
Outside of PRC	—		—		—


	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)	(24,394,667	)


Income tax expense (benefit)	10,307,322		(2,067,739	)	(20,328,252	)

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 a high and new technology enterprise status 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 a 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 ($15,304) 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,
	2016		2017
	$		$
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued salary expenses	10,298,156		9,165,743
Bad debt provision	7,790,085		5,456,916
Net operating loss carry forwards	9,421,817		38,433,490
Advertising expenses	13,811,900		14,315,500
Others	568,874		314,127

Gross deferred tax assets	41,890,832		67,685,776
Valuation allowance	(192,536	)	(602,135	)

Total deferred tax assets	41,698,296		67,083,641


Deferred tax liabilities:
Intangible assets from acquisition and other assets	18,869,374		18,016,186

Total deferred tax liabilities	18,869,374		18,016,186

The majority deferred tax liabilities were recognized for the temporary differences between the tax basis of intangible assets recognized from acquisitions and their reported amounts in the financial statements.

Movement of the valuation allowance is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	(957,162	)	(654,267	)	(192,536	)
Reverse (additions)	255,264		(686	)	(490,152	)
Write off	—		409,467		103,968
Changes due to exchange rate translation	47,631		52,950		(23,415	)

Balance as of December 31	(654,267	)	(192,536	)	(602,135	)

The Group has recognized a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets on tax loss carry forwards of $686 and $490,152 for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, 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 utilize 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, 2017. Such objective evidence limits the Group’s ability to consider other subjective evidence such as its projections for future growth.

On the basis of this evaluation, as of December 31, 2017, a valuation allowance of $602,135 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 the Group’s 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,

	2015		2016		2017

PRC income tax rate	25.00	%	25.00	%	25.00	%
Goodwill impairment not deductible for tax purposes	—		—		(5.66	)%
Share based compensation expenses not deductible for tax purposes	5.17	%	(19.17	)%	(0.48	)%
Other expenses not deductible for tax purposes	3.71	%	(4.30	)%	(0.27	)%
Effect of tax holiday	(13.18	)%	5.19	%	(5.46	)%
Effect of different tax rate of subsidiary operation in other jurisdiction	2.05	%	(2.11	)%	(0.59	)%
Effect of different tax rate of DTA and DTL applied	(2.37	)%	17.58	%	—
Valuation allowance movement	(0.56	)%	(0.01	)%	(0.27	)%
Withholding tax	2.91	%	(6.80	)%	(1.11	)%

	22.73	%	15.38	%	11.16	%

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
The aggregate dollar effect	5,977,806	697,559	—
Per share effect—basic	0.04	0.01	—
Per share effect—diluted	0.04	0.01	—

As of December 31, 2016 and 2017, the Group had tax operating loss carry forwards of $37,687,269, and $188,155,208, respectively. These tax losses are available for offset against future profits that may be carried forward until calendar year 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Undistributed earnings of the Company’s PRC subsidiaries of approximately $94,901,623 at December 31, 2017 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 $4,745,081 to $9,490,162, 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%.

Share-Based Compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Share-Based Compensation

Share-Based Compensation

10. Share-Based Compensation

Leju Plan

In November 2013, the Company adopted a share incentive plan (“Leju Plan”), which allows the Company 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 7,553,422 ordinary shares. Options have a ten-year life.

Share Options:

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.

During 2017, the Company granted 2,135,000 options to purchase its ordinary shares to certain of the Group’s employees and E-House’s employees at an exercise price of $3.24 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 Leju Plan. The fair value per option was estimated at the date of grant using the following assumptions:

	2015		2017
Risk-free rate of return	2.14	%	2.61	%
Contractual life of option	10 years		10 years
Estimated volatility rate	62.82	%	65.64	%
Dividend yield	2.56	%	1.00	%

A summary of option activities under the Leju Plan during the year ended December 31, 2017 is presented below:

	Number of Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2017	7,746,383		5.11	7.50
Granted	2,135,000		3.24
Exercised	—		—		—
Forfeited	(1,062,506	)	4.84

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2017	8,818,877		4.69	7.07

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2017	8,545,759		4.72	7.01	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2017	6,332,380		4.99	6.35	—

The weighted average grant-date fair value of the options granted in 2015 was $3.44 per share. The fair value of the options granted in 2017 was $1.75 per share. For the year ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, the Company recorded compensation expenses of $4,025,809, $5,576,034 and $2,674,454 for the share options granted to the Group’s employees and recorded deemed distribution to E-House of $1,070,383, $883,286 and $78,245 for the share options granted to E-House’s employees, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, 196,185, 66,424 and nil options were exercised having a total intrinsic value of $949,907, $43,253 and nil, respectively.

As of December 31, 2017, there was $4,564,890 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 1.61 years.

Restricted Shares:

Restricted shares are restricted from voting or receiving dividend until the shares are vested based on the stipulated service periods as set out in the award agreements.

On March 18, 2014, the Company granted 866,000 restricted shares to certain employees, directors and officers of the Group. Each restricted share would vest ratably at each grant date anniversary over a period of three years. On August 21, 2014, the Company granted 229,400 restricted share to certain employees of the Group. Each restricted share would vest over eight months.

A summary of restricted share activities under the Leju Plan during the year ended December 31, 2017 is presented below:

	Number of Restricted Shares		Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2017	260,004		11.34
Granted	—
Vested	(260,004	)	11.34
Forfeited	—

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2017	—

The total grant date fair value of restricted shares vested in 2015, 2016 and 2017 was $7,179,455, $3,737,772 and $2,948,837, respectively.

For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, the Company recorded compensation expenses of $5,273,322, $3,248,658 and $666,723 for the restricted shares granted to the Group’s employees and recorded deemed distribution to E-House of $41,580, $34,594 and nil for the share options granted to E-House’s employees, respectively.

As of December 31, 2017, there was no unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted shares granted under the Leju Plan.

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 activities under the Omnigold Plan during the year ended December 31, 2017 is presented below:

	Number of Options		Exercise Price	Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2017	2,205,000		1.50	8.61
Granted	—
Exercised	—				—
Forfeited	(150,000	)	1.50

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2017	2,055,000		1.50	7.61

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2017	2,014,808		1.50	7.61	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2017	1,480,833		1.50	7.61	—

The grant-date fair value of the options granted in August, 2015 was $0.30 per share. For the year ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, the Company recorded compensation expenses of $80,577, $226,951 and $183,687.

There were no options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

As of December 31, 2017, there was $128,243 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 0.61 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.

On August 2016, following the delisting of E-House Holdings, all the outstanding options and restricted shares of E-House Plan were immediately exercised. Accordingly, any previously unrecognized compensation costs were recognized immediately.

The share-based compensation expense under E-House Plan allocated to the Group were $1,066,477, $1,254,915 and nil for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and, 2017, respectively.

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. $2,138,404, $1,603,805 and nil stock compensation expense was recognized for the year ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017. As of December 31, 2017, there was no unrecognized compensation expense related to this compensation agreement.

Employee Benefit Plans	12 Months Ended
Employee Benefit Plans	Dec. 31, 2017
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 $20,413,820, $22,350,656, and $21,542,245 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively, for such benefits.

Distribution of Profits	12 Months Ended
Distribution of Profits	Dec. 31, 2017
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, 2016 and 2017 was $8,294,282 and $8,776,513 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 $34,082,822 and $34,565,053, of which $8,214,564 and $8,772,778 was attributed to general reserve and registered capital of the VIEs, as of December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
E-commerce	420,552,177	419,023,733	234,835,770
Online advertising	134,229,255	117,948,842	113,235,010
Listing	21,022,504	22,538,535	14,461,253

	575,803,936	559,511,110	362,532,033

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, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Related Party Balances and Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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 became largest shareholder since then (Note1).
SINA		SINA has significant influence the Company
Beijing China Real Estate Research Association Technology Ltd. (“CRERAT”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is CRERAT’s chairman
Shanghai Yicang Enterprise Management Ltd. (“Yicang”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Yicang’s chairman and ultimate controller
Yunchuang		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Yunchuang’s ultimate controller
Shanghai Baoku Treasury Culture Development Corporation Ltd. (“Baoku”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku’s ultimate controller.
Shanghai Baoku Information & Technology Ltd. (“Baoku I&T”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku I&T’s ultimate controller.
Shanghai Quanzhuyi Home Furnishing Accessories Ltd. (“QuanZhuYi”)		One of the Group’s investment affiliates and the Group owns 13.5% equity interest
Tencent		A shareholder with significant influence on the Group
Jupai Holdings Ltd. (“Jupai”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Jupai’s director. E-House Holdings has significant influence on Jupai and Leju.

Subsequent to Leju’s IPO, E-House began charging the Group corporate service fees pursuant to agreements entered into in March 2014 in connection with Leju’s IPO. Under these 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 $6,040,071, $8,585,821 and $5,447,864 for the year ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, significant related party transactions were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
Corporate service provided by E-House under services agreements	6,040,071	8,585,821	5,447,864
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased from SINA	6,093,974	9,841,434	15,629,868
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased from Tencent	—	—	16,349,409
Services purchased from/rental cost paid to E-House	5,927,764	3,570,474	6,473,108
Services purchased from CRERAT	—	56,928	—
Services purchased from BaoKu	—	7,454	—
Services purchased from Jupai	—	—	267,001
Services purchased from Yunchuang	—	—	55,018
Services purchased from Yicang	—	—	185,632

Total services purchased from related parties	18,061,809	22,062,111	44,407,900


Online advertising services provided to CRERAT	3,174	—	—
Online advertising services provided to E-House	28,679	94,548	126,168
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	—
Online advertising services provided to Quanzhuyi	—	—	23,603

Total Online advertising services provided to related parties	51,752	244,380	149,771


Loan from E-House (Note A)	—	89,462,593	—
Repayment loan to E-House (Note A)	42,513,286	87,600,000	1,862,593
Business acquisition from Yunchuang	—	—	6,000,000

Note A: The loan from E-House is interest fee and settleable on demand.

The transactions are measured at the amount of consideration established and agreed to by the related parties.

As of December 31, 2016 and 2017, amounts due from related parties were comprised of the following:

	As of December 31,
	2016	2017
	$	$
E-House (1)	6,019,121	—
Yunchuang(2)	—	42,497
Tencent(3)	—	3,743,119
Baoku I&T(2)	—	291,392

Total	6,019,121	4,077,008

As of December 31, 2016 and 2017, amounts due to related parties were comprised of the following:

	As of December 31,
	2016	2017
	$	$
SINA (4)	1,557,078	1,641,198
E-House (1)	—	1,376,955
Yicang(5)	—	74,717
QuanZhuYi(6)	24,271	—

Total	1,581,349	3,092,870

(1)

The amount due to E-House as of December 31, 2017 was primarily for corporate service fees charged to Leju. The balance is interest free and settable on demand.

(2)

The amount due from Yunchuang and Baoku I&T as of December 31, 2017 was the expense paid on behalf.

(3)

The amount due from Tencent as of December 31 2017 represents the rebates of online advertising agency fees prepaid to Tencent.

(4)

The amount due to SINA as of December 31, 2016 and 2017 represents online advertising agency fees payable to SINA.

(5)

The amount due to Yicang as of December 31, 2017 was the payable of rental expense.

(6)

The amount due to QuanZhuYi as of December 31, 2016 represents a cash advance for the marketing services provided by the Group.

The rollforward of the payable to / (receivable from) E-House for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 is as follows:

		Year Ended December 31,
		2015		2016		2017
		$		$		$
Balance at January 1		1,560,283		7,783,911		(6,019,121	)
Loan from E-House	A	—		89,462,593		—
Repayment of loan to E-House	A	(42,513,286	)	(87,600,000	)	(1,862,593	)
Dividend declared to E-House	B	18,738,984		—		—
Dividend paid to E-House	C	(18,738,984	)	—		—
Corporate service provided by E-House under services agreements	D	6,040,071		8,585,821		5,447,864
Service provided to E-House	D	(28,679	)	(94,548	)	(126,168	)
Service purchased from E-House	D	5,927,764		3,570,474		6,473,108
Net (payment) receipt	E	36,797,758		(27,727,372	)	(2,536,135	)

Balance at December 31		7,783,911		(6,019,121	)	1,376,955

	As of December 31,
	2016		2017
	$		$
Loan payable to E-House (A)	1,862,593		—
Payables for services fee charged by E-House (D)	—		1,376,955
Receivables for E-House collection on behalf of the Company	(7,881,714	)	—

Amounts due to/(from) E-House	(6,019,121	)	1,376,955

Represents the movement of the loan payable to E-House

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 the cash flow between the Company and E-House except for the loan from (repaid to) E-House and dividend paid to E-House.

Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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 96 months and are renewable upon negotiation. Rental expenses were $10,078,033, $9,984,844 and $9,982,604, for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating lease agreements at December 31, 2017 were as follows:

Year Ended December 31		Amount
		$
2018		9,178,430
2019		7,909,968
2020		6,353,150
2021		2,140,406
2022		205,760
Then thereafter		617,280

Total		26,404,994

(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, 2017
Subsequent Events
Subsequent Events	16. Subsequent Events The Group has performed an evaluation of subsequent events through the date of this report. On March 21, 2018, the Company granted 1,045,000 options to purchase its ordinary shares, to certain of the Group’s employees at an exercise price of $1.55. The options expire ten years from the date of grant and vest over a period of three years.

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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

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,
	2016	2017
	$	$
Cash and cash equivalents	89,160,450	57,745,894
Restricted cash	—	336,690
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	62,212,257	68,844,766
Customer deposits	12,061,362	8,648,959
Amounts due from related parties	1,259,992	4,077,008
Other current assets	1,374,518	5,987,132

Total current assets	166,068,579	145,640,449
Total non-current assets	51,697,208	56,767,649

Total assets	217,765,787	202,408,098

Accounts payable	1,573,620	1,771,717
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	29,742,853	28,021,779
Income tax payable	29,890,262	25,705,206
Other tax payable	13,360,481	11,166,308
Amounts due to related parties	1,581,349	1,245,000
Advances from customers	4,960,924	10,050,703
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses	6,271,191	14,117,697
Other current liabilities	6,809,176	15,606,182

Total current liabilities	94,189,856	107,684,592
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	533,401	414,505

Total liabilities	94,723,257	108,099,097

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Total revenues	558,714,556		540,838,424		357,698,260
Cost of revenues	(48,032,280	)	(45,641,656	)	(64,947,541	)
Net income (loss)	3,307,694		2,286,007		(4,453,820	)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities	41,577,844		43,652,445		(33,297,103	)
Net cash used in investing activities	(13,884,075	)	(1,945,215	)	(2,551,687	)
Net cash used in financing activities	(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 2015, 2016 and 2017.

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.

Restricted cash

(g) Restricted cash

In 2017, the Group was involved in a lawsuit for the settlement of certain marketing expenses and paid deposit to a restricted bank account monitored by the court.

Marketable securities

(h) Marketable securities

Customer deposits

(i) Customer deposits

Investment in affiliates

(j) Investment in affiliates

Property and equipment, net

(k) 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

(l) Intangible assets, net

Impairment of long-lived assets

(m) Impairment of long-lived assets

Impairment of goodwill

(n) Impairment of goodwill

Income taxes

(o) Income taxes

Share-based compensation

(p) Share-based compensation

Revenue recognition

(q) 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

(r) Cost of revenue

Marketing and advertising expenses

(s) Marketing and advertising expenses

Foreign currency translation

(t) Foreign currency translation

Government subsidies

(u) Government subsidies

Concentration of credit risk

(v) Concentration of credit risk

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	15,471,020		26,350,814		31,160,340
Provisions for doubtful accounts	18,959,895		14,797,072		4,399,176
Write offs	(6,827,314	)	(8,081,575	)	(15,325,934	)
Changes due to foreign exchange	(1,252,787	)	(1,905,971	)	1,594,081

Balance as of December 31	26,350,814		31,160,340		21,827,663

The allowance for other receivable in prepaid expenses and other current assets was nil for all periods presented.

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

	As of December 31,
	2016	2017
	$	$
Customer A	11,694,364	24,387,044

Earnings per share

(w) 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,
	2015		2016			2017
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted	$	35,330,089	$	(9,788,839	)	(160,901,216	)

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic	134,528,971		135,220,210			135,708,350

Stock options and restricted shares	1,695,003		—			—
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted	136,223,974		135,220,210			135,708,350

Basic earnings (loss) per share	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)	(1.19	)

Diluted earnings (loss) per share	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)	(1.19	)

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
Share options and restricted shares	2,464,500	7,746,383	8,818,877

Non-controlling interest

(x) Non-controlling interest

Comprehensive income

(y) Comprehensive income

Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncement and Recently issued accounting pronouncements

(z) Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncement

(aa) Recently issued accounting pronouncements

Organization and Principal Activities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Organization and Principal Activities

Schedule of major subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs

	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 Services 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, 2017

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,
	2016	2017
	$	$
Cash and cash equivalents	89,160,450	57,745,894
Restricted cash	—	336,690
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	62,212,257	68,844,766
Customer deposits	12,061,362	8,648,959
Amounts due from related parties	1,259,992	4,077,008
Other current assets	1,374,518	5,987,132

Total current assets	166,068,579	145,640,449
Total non-current assets	51,697,208	56,767,649

Total assets	217,765,787	202,408,098

Accounts payable	1,573,620	1,771,717
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	29,742,853	28,021,779
Income tax payable	29,890,262	25,705,206
Other tax payable	13,360,481	11,166,308
Amounts due to related parties	1,581,349	1,245,000
Advances from customers	4,960,924	10,050,703
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses	6,271,191	14,117,697
Other current liabilities	6,809,176	15,606,182

Total current liabilities	94,189,856	107,684,592
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	533,401	414,505

Total liabilities	94,723,257	108,099,097

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Total revenues	558,714,556		540,838,424		357,698,260
Cost of revenues	(48,032,280	)	(45,641,656	)	(64,947,541	)
Net income (loss)	3,307,694		2,286,007		(4,453,820	)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities	41,577,844		43,652,445		(33,297,103	)
Net cash used in investing activities	(13,884,075	)	(1,945,215	)	(2,551,687	)
Net cash used in financing activities	(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,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	15,471,020		26,350,814		31,160,340
Provisions for doubtful accounts	18,959,895		14,797,072		4,399,176
Write offs	(6,827,314	)	(8,081,575	)	(15,325,934	)
Changes due to foreign exchange	(1,252,787	)	(1,905,971	)	1,594,081

Balance as of December 31	26,350,814		31,160,340		21,827,663

Schedule of the computation of basic and diluted income per share

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016			2017
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted	$	35,330,089	$	(9,788,839	)	(160,901,216	)

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic	134,528,971		135,220,210			135,708,350

Stock options and restricted shares	1,695,003		—			—
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted	136,223,974		135,220,210			135,708,350

Basic earnings (loss) per share	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)	(1.19	)

Diluted earnings (loss) per share	$	0.26	$	(0.07	)	(1.19	)

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
Share options and restricted shares	2,464,500	7,746,383	8,818,877

Customer risk | Accounts receivable

Schedule of concentration risk

	As of December 31,
	2016	2017
	$	$
Customer A	11,694,364	24,387,044

Business Acquisition (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Business Acquisition

Schedule of purchase price allocation

			Amortization
	Allocated value		period
	$
Software	5,430,000		3 years
Goodwill	1,927,500
Deferred tax liabilities	(1,357,500	)


Total	6,000,000

Property and Equipment, Net (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Property and Equipment, Net

Schedule of property and equipment, net

	As of December 31,
	2016		2017
	$		$
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	14,129,811		12,886,210
Leasehold improvements	5,969,254		6,459,239
Buildings	593,146		7,517,133
Motor vehicles	1,717,806		1,668,530


Total	22,410,017		28,531,112
Accumulated depreciation	(14,486,990	)	(14,290,992	)


Property and equipment, net	7,923,027		14,240,120

Intangible Assets, Net (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Intangible Assets, Net

Schedule of intangible assets, net

	As of December 31,		Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period in Years
	2016	2017
	$	$
Intangible assets subject to amortization are comprised of the following:
Advertising agency agreement with SINA	106,790,000	106,790,000	6.25
License agreements with SINA	80,660,000	80,660,000	6.25
Exclusive rights with Baidu	50,639,152	—	—
Customer relationship	10,269,891	10,512,212	1.75
Database license	8,300,000	8,300,000	0.25
Non-compete agreements	1,489,800	—	—
Computer software licenses	1,056,540	6,422,913	2.33


	259,205,383	212,685,125	5.93

Less: Accumulated amortization
Advertising agency agreement	63,396,382	69,451,305
License agreements with SINA	48,384,797	52,888,314
Exclusive rights with Baidu	50,639,152	—
Customer relationship	8,975,366	9,798,432
Database license	7,079,413	8,055,884
Non-compete agreements	1,489,800	—
Computer software licenses	866,857	1,860,044


Intangible assets subject to amortization, net	78,373,616	70,631,146


Total intangible assets, net	78,373,616	70,631,146

Goodwill (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill

Schedule of changes in the carrying amount of goodwill

	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	40,563,075		39,807,243		39,018,058
Goodwill recognized upon acquisition (Note 3)	—		—		1,927,500
Impairment	—		—		(41,222,971	)
Exchange rate translation	(755,832	)	(789,185	)	277,413


Balance as of December 31	39,807,243		39,018,058		—

Other Income, Net (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Other Income, Net

Schedule of other income, net

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	—	180,112	911,873
Foreign exchange gain (loss)	156,641	64,650	(619,269	)
Others	133,398	374,988	187,891


Total	290,039	619,750	480,495

Income Tax (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Income Tax

Schedule of components of Income (loss) before income taxes

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Income (loss) before income taxes:
PRC	70,382,855		8,742,444		(133,775,542	)
Outside of PRC	(25,041,651	)	(22,186,499	)	(48,379,927	)


Total	45,341,204		(13,444,055	)	(182,155,469	)

Schedule of expense (benefit) for income taxes

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Current Tax
PRC	17,990,790		13,331,921		4,059,702
Outside of PRC	17,425		16,686		6,713


	18,008,215		13,348,607		4,066,415


Deferred Tax
PRC	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)	(24,394,667	)
Outside of PRC	—		—		—


	(7,700,893	)	(15,416,346	)	(24,394,667	)


Income tax expense (benefit)	10,307,322		(2,067,739	)	(20,328,252	)

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

	As of December 31,
	2016		2017
	$		$
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued salary expenses	10,298,156		9,165,743
Bad debt provision	7,790,085		5,456,916
Net operating loss carry forwards	9,421,817		38,433,490
Advertising expenses	13,811,900		14,315,500
Others	568,874		314,127

Gross deferred tax assets	41,890,832		67,685,776
Valuation allowance	(192,536	)	(602,135	)

Total deferred tax assets	41,698,296		67,083,641


Deferred tax liabilities:
Intangible assets from acquisition and other assets	18,869,374		18,016,186

Total deferred tax liabilities	18,869,374		18,016,186

Schedule of movement of the valuation allowance

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017
	$		$		$
Balance as of January 1	(957,162	)	(654,267	)	(192,536	)
Reverse (additions)	255,264		(686	)	(490,152	)
Write off	—		409,467		103,968
Changes due to exchange rate translation	47,631		52,950		(23,415	)

Balance as of December 31	(654,267	)	(192,536	)	(602,135	)

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,

	2015		2016		2017

PRC income tax rate	25.00	%	25.00	%	25.00	%
Goodwill impairment not deductible for tax purposes	—		—		(5.66	)%
Share based compensation expenses not deductible for tax purposes	5.17	%	(19.17	)%	(0.48	)%
Other expenses not deductible for tax purposes	3.71	%	(4.30	)%	(0.27	)%
Effect of tax holiday	(13.18	)%	5.19	%	(5.46	)%
Effect of different tax rate of subsidiary operation in other jurisdiction	2.05	%	(2.11	)%	(0.59	)%
Effect of different tax rate of DTA and DTL applied	(2.37	)%	17.58	%	—
Valuation allowance movement	(0.56	)%	(0.01	)%	(0.27	)%
Withholding tax	2.91	%	(6.80	)%	(1.11	)%

	22.73	%	15.38	%	11.16	%

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
The aggregate dollar effect	5,977,806	697,559	—
Per share effect—basic	0.04	0.01	—
Per share effect—diluted	0.04	0.01	—

Share-Based Compensation (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Leju Plan

Share-Based Compensation

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

	2015		2017
Risk-free rate of return	2.14	%	2.61	%
Contractual life of option	10 years		10 years
Estimated volatility rate	62.82	%	65.64	%
Dividend yield	2.56	%	1.00	%

Summary of option activities

	Number of Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2017	7,746,383		5.11	7.50
Granted	2,135,000		3.24
Exercised	—		—		—
Forfeited	(1,062,506	)	4.84

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2017	8,818,877		4.69	7.07

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2017	8,545,759		4.72	7.01	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2017	6,332,380		4.99	6.35	—

Summary of restricted share activities

	Number of Restricted Shares		Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2017	260,004		11.34
Granted	—
Vested	(260,004	)	11.34
Forfeited	—

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2017	—

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 activities

	Number of Options		Exercise Price	Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
			$
Outstanding, as of January 1, 2017	2,205,000		1.50	8.61
Granted	—
Exercised	—				—
Forfeited	(150,000	)	1.50

Outstanding, as of December 31, 2017	2,055,000		1.50	7.61

Vested and expected to vest as of December 31, 2017	2,014,808		1.50	7.61	—
Exercisable as of December 31, 2017	1,480,833		1.50	7.61	—

Segment Information (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Segment Information

Summary of the revenue information of the Group

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
E-commerce	420,552,177	419,023,733	234,835,770
Online advertising	134,229,255	117,948,842	113,235,010
Listing	21,022,504	22,538,535	14,461,253

	575,803,936	559,511,110	362,532,033

Related Party Balances and Transactions (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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 became largest shareholder since then (Note1).
SINA		SINA has significant influence the Company
Beijing China Real Estate Research Association Technology Ltd. (“CRERAT”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is CRERAT’s chairman
Shanghai Yicang Enterprise Management Ltd. (“Yicang”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Yicang’s chairman and ultimate controller
Yunchuang		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Yunchuang’s ultimate controller
Shanghai Baoku Treasury Culture Development Corporation Ltd. (“Baoku”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku’s ultimate controller.
Shanghai Baoku Information & Technology Ltd. (“Baoku I&T”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Baoku I&T’s ultimate controller.
Shanghai Quanzhuyi Home Furnishing Accessories Ltd. (“QuanZhuYi”)		One of the Group’s investment affiliates and the Group owns 13.5% equity interest
Tencent		A shareholder with significant influence on the Group
Jupai Holdings Ltd. (“Jupai”)		Mr. Xin Zhou, executive chairman of Leju, is Jupai’s director. E-House Holdings has significant influence on Jupai and Leju.

Schedule of significant related party transactions

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015	2016	2017
	$	$	$
Corporate service provided by E-House under services agreements	6,040,071	8,585,821	5,447,864
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased from SINA	6,093,974	9,841,434	15,629,868
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased from Tencent	—	—	16,349,409
Services purchased from/rental cost paid to E-House	5,927,764	3,570,474	6,473,108
Services purchased from CRERAT	—	56,928	—
Services purchased from BaoKu	—	7,454	—
Services purchased from Jupai	—	—	267,001
Services purchased from Yunchuang	—	—	55,018
Services purchased from Yicang	—	—	185,632

Total services purchased from related parties	18,061,809	22,062,111	44,407,900


Online advertising services provided to CRERAT	3,174	—	—
Online advertising services provided to E-House	28,679	94,548	126,168
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	—
Online advertising services provided to Quanzhuyi	—	—	23,603

Total Online advertising services provided to related parties	51,752	244,380	149,771


Loan from E-House (Note A)	—	89,462,593	—
Repayment loan to E-House (Note A)	42,513,286	87,600,000	1,862,593
Business acquisition from Yunchuang	—	—	6,000,000

Schedule of amounts due from related parties

	As of December 31,
	2016	2017
	$	$
E-House (1)	6,019,121	—
Yunchuang(2)	—	42,497
Tencent(3)	—	3,743,119
Baoku I&T(2)	—	291,392

Total	6,019,121	4,077,008

(1)

The amount due to E-House as of December 31, 2017 was primarily for corporate service fees charged to Leju. The balance is interest free and settable on demand.

(2)

The amount due from Yunchuang and Baoku I&T as of December 31, 2017 was the expense paid on behalf.

(3)

The amount due from Tencent as of December 31 2017 represents the rebates of online advertising agency fees prepaid to Tencent.

(4)

The amount due to SINA as of December 31, 2016 and 2017 represents online advertising agency fees payable to SINA.

(5)

The amount due to Yicang as of December 31, 2017 was the payable of rental expense.

(6)

The amount due to QuanZhuYi as of December 31, 2016 represents a cash advance for the marketing services provided by the Group.

Schedule of amounts due to related parties

	As of December 31,
	2016	2017
	$	$
SINA (4)	1,557,078	1,641,198
E-House (1)	—	1,376,955
Yicang(5)	—	74,717
QuanZhuYi(6)	24,271	—

Total	1,581,349	3,092,870

(1)

The amount due to E-House as of December 31, 2017 was primarily for corporate service fees charged to Leju. The balance is interest free and settable on demand.

(2)

The amount due from Yunchuang and Baoku I&T as of December 31, 2017 was the expense paid on behalf.

(3)

The amount due from Tencent as of December 31 2017 represents the rebates of online advertising agency fees prepaid to Tencent.

(4)

The amount due to SINA as of December 31, 2016 and 2017 represents online advertising agency fees payable to SINA.

(5)

The amount due to Yicang as of December 31, 2017 was the payable of rental expense.

(6)

The amount due to QuanZhuYi as of December 31, 2016 represents a cash advance for the marketing services provided by the Group.

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

		Year Ended December 31,
		2015		2016		2017
		$		$		$
Balance at January 1		1,560,283		7,783,911		(6,019,121	)
Loan from E-House	A	—		89,462,593		—
Repayment of loan to E-House	A	(42,513,286	)	(87,600,000	)	(1,862,593	)
Dividend declared to E-House	B	18,738,984		—		—
Dividend paid to E-House	C	(18,738,984	)	—		—
Corporate service provided by E-House under services agreements	D	6,040,071		8,585,821		5,447,864
Service provided to E-House	D	(28,679	)	(94,548	)	(126,168	)
Service purchased from E-House	D	5,927,764		3,570,474		6,473,108
Net (payment) receipt	E	36,797,758		(27,727,372	)	(2,536,135	)

Balance at December 31		7,783,911		(6,019,121	)	1,376,955

	As of December 31,
	2016		2017
	$		$
Loan payable to E-House (A)	1,862,593		—
Payables for services fee charged by E-House (D)	—		1,376,955
Receivables for E-House collection on behalf of the Company	(7,881,714	)	—

Amounts due to/(from) E-House	(6,019,121	)	1,376,955

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 the cash flow between the Company and E-House except for the loan from (repaid to) E-House and dividend paid to E-House.

Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Commitments and Contingencies

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

Year Ended December 31		Amount
		$
2018		9,178,430
2019		7,909,968
2020		6,353,150
2021		2,140,406
2022		205,760
Then thereafter		617,280

Total		26,404,994

Organization and Principal Activities (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017
E-House \| SINA
Major Subsidiaries And Consolidated VIEs
Total ordinary shares repurchased, ordinary shares transferred (in shares)	40,651,187
Total cash consideration for repurchase of ordinary shares	$ 129,038,150
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%

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies - VIE Arrangements (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017
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, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Financial statement amounts and balances of the Group's VIEs
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 150,967,996	$ 274,337,674	$ 260,295,909	$ 317,811,056
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	80,606,130	71,390,171
Customer deposits	35,822,756	39,702,416
Amounts due from related parties	4,077,008	6,019,121
Total current assets	284,833,003	406,386,446
Accounts payable	2,949,725	1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	37,081,532	41,727,577
Income tax payable	63,380,153	66,147,522
Other tax payable	11,654,145	16,678,264
Amounts due to related parties	3,092,870	1,581,349
Advances from customers	10,564,818	5,058,212
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses	18,851,999	9,355,409
Other current liabilities	16,315,380	8,516,123
Total current liabilities	163,890,622	150,638,076
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	18,016,186	18,869,374
Total revenues	362,532,033	559,511,110	575,803,936
Cost of revenues	(74,054,524)	(57,491,395)	(60,313,726)
Net income (loss)	(162,043,234)	(11,601,068)	34,805,905
Net cash provided by/(used in) by operating activities	(124,504,771)	35,108,526	51,274,996
Net cash used in investing activities	(8,111,610)	(4,315,843)	(15,099,773)
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,862,593)	(4,604,993)	(85,174,408)
Consolidated VIEs without recourse
Financial statement amounts and balances of the Group's VIEs
Cash and cash equivalents	57,745,894	89,160,450
Restricted cash	336,690
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	68,844,766	62,212,257
Customer deposits	8,648,959	12,061,362
Amounts due from related parties	4,077,008	1,259,992
Other current assets	5,987,132	1,374,518
Total current assets	145,640,449	166,068,579
Total non-current assets	56,767,649	51,697,208
Total assets	202,408,098	217,765,787
Accounts payable	1,771,717	1,573,620
Accrued payroll and welfare expenses	28,021,779	29,742,853
Income tax payable	25,705,206	29,890,262
Other tax payable	11,166,308	13,360,481
Amounts due to related parties	1,245,000	1,581,349
Advances from customers	10,050,703	4,960,924
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses	14,117,697	6,271,191
Other current liabilities	15,606,182	6,809,176
Total current liabilities	107,684,592	94,189,856
Deferred tax liabilities, non-current	414,505	533,401
Total liabilities	108,099,097	94,723,257
Total revenues	357,698,260	540,838,424	558,714,556
Cost of revenues	(64,947,541)	(45,641,656)	(48,032,280)
Net income (loss)	(4,453,820)	2,286,007	3,307,694
Net cash provided by/(used in) by operating activities	(33,297,103)	43,652,445	41,577,844
Net cash used in investing activities	$ (2,551,687)	(1,945,215)	(13,884,075)
Net cash used in financing activities		$ (6,782,336)	$ (59,873,366)

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies - Various Policies (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Customer deposits
Customer deposits maturity period	12 months
Impairment of goodwill
Number of reporting units \| segment	1
Advertising expense
Marketing and advertising expenses	$ 292,076,010	$ 345,862,479	$ 306,846,482
Government subsidies
Cash subsidies included in other operating income	3,071,865	4,586,746	3,567,965
Movement of the allowance for doubtful accounts for accounts receivable
Balance at beginning of the year	31,160,340	26,350,814	15,471,020
Provisions for doubtful accounts	4,399,176	14,797,072	18,959,895
Write offs	(15,325,934)	(8,081,575)	(6,827,314)
Changes due to foreign exchange	1,594,081	(1,905,971)	(1,252,787)
Balance at end of the year	21,827,663	31,160,340	26,350,814
Allowance for prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0	0
Net accounts receivable	80,606,130	71,390,171
Other income, net
Foreign currency translation
Foreign exchange gain		64,650	156,641
Foreign exchange loss	$ 619,269
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
Customer A \| Customer risk
Movement of the allowance for doubtful accounts for accounts receivable
Net accounts receivable	$ 24,387,044	$ 11,694,364

Summary of Principal Accounting Policies - Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Earnings per share
Net income (loss) attributable to Leju ordinary shareholders-basic and diluted	$ (160,901,216)	$ (9,788,839)	$ 35,330,089
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding-basic (in shares)	135,708,350	135,220,210	134,528,971
Stock options and restricted shares			1,695,003
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding - diluted (in shares)	135,708,350	135,220,210	136,223,974
Basic earnings (loss) per share (in dollars per share)	$ (1.19)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26
Diluted earnings (loss) per share (in dollars per share)	$ (1.19)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.26
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	8,818,877	7,746,383	2,464,500

Business Acquisition (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Business Acquisition (Details) - USD ($)	May 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Business Acquisition
Goodwill			$ 39,018,058	$ 39,807,243	$ 40,563,075
Amortization period		5 years 11 months 5 days
Live-broadcasting App with related assets \| Yunchuang
Business Acquisition
Goodwill	$ 1,927,500
Deferred tax liabilities	(1,357,500)
Total purchase price	6,000,000
Live-broadcasting App with related assets \| Yunchuang \| Software
Business Acquisition
Software	$ 5,430,000
Amortization period	3 years

Property and Equipment, Net (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Property and Equipment, Net (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	$ 28,531,112	$ 22,410,017
Accumulated depreciation	(14,290,992)	(14,486,990)
Property and equipment, net	14,240,120	7,923,027
Depreciation expenses	3,078,955	2,579,726	$ 2,626,264
Furniture, fixtures and equipment
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	12,886,210	14,129,811
Leasehold improvements
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	6,459,239	5,969,254
Buildings
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	7,517,133	593,146
Motor vehicles
Property and equipment, net
Property and equipment, gross	$ 1,668,530	$ 1,717,806

Intangible Assets, Net (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Intangible Assets, Net (Details) - USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization		$ 212,685,125	$ 259,205,383
Intangible assets subject to amortization, net		70,631,146	78,373,616
Total intangible assets, net		$ 70,631,146	78,373,616
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period		5 years 11 months 5 days
Amortization expenses		$ 13,465,713	12,426,950	$ 26,653,571
Expected amortization expenses
2018		13,239,872
2019		12,716,484
2020		11,239,323
2021		10,558,498
2022		10,558,498
SINA \| Advertising agency agreement and license agreements
Intangible Assets, Net
Percentage of revenue fee on sales	15.00%
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		$ 69,451,305	63,396,382
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period		6 years 3 months
License agreements \| SINA
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization		$ 80,660,000	80,660,000
Less: Accumulated amortization		$ 52,888,314	48,384,797
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period		6 years 3 months
Exclusive rights \| Baidu
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization			50,639,152
Less: Accumulated amortization			50,639,152
Customer relationship
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization		$ 10,512,212	10,269,891
Less: Accumulated amortization		$ 9,798,432	8,975,366
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period		1 year 9 months
Database license
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization		$ 8,300,000	8,300,000
Less: Accumulated amortization		$ 8,055,884	7,079,413
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period		3 months
Non-compete agreements
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization			1,489,800
Less: Accumulated amortization			1,489,800
Computer software licenses
Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets subject to amortization		$ 6,422,913	1,056,540
Less: Accumulated amortization		$ 1,860,044	$ 866,857
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Period		2 years 3 months 29 days

Goodwill (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Goodwill (Details) - USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill
Balance as of January 1		$ 39,018,058	$ 39,807,243	$ 40,563,075
Goodwill recognized upon acquisition (Note 3)		1,927,500
Impairment		(41,222,971)	0	0
Exchange rate translation		$ 277,413	(789,185)	(755,832)
Balance as of December 31			$ 39,018,058	$ 39,807,243
Percentage of decline in stock price (as a percent)	43.00%
Discount rate (as a percent)		16.00%
Terminal growth rate (as a percent)		3.00%

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, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Other Income, Net
Unrealized gain on marketable securities	$ 911,873	$ 180,112
Foreign exchange gain (loss)	(619,269)	64,650	$ 156,641
Others	187,891	374,988	133,398
Total	$ 480,495	$ 619,750	$ 290,039

Income Tax - Income Tax and Deferred Tax Asset and Liabilities Components (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Income Tax
PRC		$ (133,775,542)	$ 8,742,444	$ 70,382,855
Outside of PRC		(48,379,927)	(22,186,499)	(25,041,651)
Income (loss) before taxes and loss from equity in affiliates		(182,155,469)	(13,444,055)	45,341,204
PRC		4,059,702	13,331,921	17,990,790
Outside of PRC		6,713	16,686	17,425
Current income taxes expenses (benefits)		4,066,415	13,348,607	18,008,215
PRC		(24,394,667)	(15,416,346)	(7,700,893)
Deferred income taxes expenses (benefits)		(24,394,667)	(15,416,346)	(7,700,893)
Income tax expense (benefit)		$ (20,328,252)	$ (2,067,739)	$ 10,307,322
Statutory tax rate (as a percent)	25.00%	25.00%	25.00%	25.00%
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued salary expenses		$ 9,165,743	$ 10,298,156
Bad debt provision		5,456,916	7,790,085
Net operating loss carry forwards		38,433,490	9,421,817
Advertising expenses		14,315,500	13,811,900
Others		314,127	568,874
Gross deferred tax assets		67,685,776	41,890,832
Valuation allowance		(602,135)	(192,536)	$ (654,267)	$ (957,162)
Total deferred tax assets		67,083,641	41,698,296
Deferred tax liabilities:
Intangible assets from acquisition and other assets		18,016,186	18,869,374
Total deferred tax liabilities		$ 18,016,186	$ 18,869,374
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	$ 15,304
Period of statute of limitations for transfer pricing issues	10 years	10 years
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%
Preferential tax rate (as a percent)			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, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Movement of the valuation allowance
Balance at beginning of the year	$ (192,536)	$ (654,267)	$ (957,162)
Reverse (additions)	(490,152)	(686)	255,264
Write off	103,968	409,467
Changes due to exchange rate translation	(23,415)	52,950	47,631
Balance at end of the year	$ (602,135)	$ (192,536)	$ (654,267)
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%
Goodwill impairment not deductible for tax purposes (as a percent)	(5.66%)
Share based compensation expenses not deductible for tax purposes (as a percent)	(0.48%)	(19.17%)	5.17%
Other expenses not deductible for tax purposes (as a percent)	(0.27%)	(4.30%)	3.71%
Effect of tax holiday (as a percent)	(5.46%)	5.19%	(13.18%)
Effect of different tax rate of subsidiary operation in other jurisdiction (as a percent)	(0.59%)	(2.11%)	2.05%
Effect of different tax rate of DTA and DTL applied (as a percent)		17.58%	(2.37%)
Valuation allowance movement (as a percent)	(0.27%)	(0.01%)	(0.56%)
Withholding tax (as a percent)	(1.11%)	(6.80%)	2.91%
Income tax rate (as a percent)	11.16%	15.38%	22.73%
Aggregate amount and per share effect of the tax holiday
The aggregate dollar effect		$ 697,559	$ 5,977,806
Per share effect-basic (in dollars per share)		$ 0.01	$ 0.04
Per share effect-diluted (in dollars per share)		$ 0.01	$ 0.04

Income Tax - Tax carry forwards, Unrecognized Deferred Tax Liabilities (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Income Tax
Tax operating loss carry forwards	$ 188,155,208	$ 37,687,269
PRC
Income Tax
Undistributed earnings	94,901,623
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	$ 4,745,081
Withholding income tax rate for dividends distributed (as a percent)	5.00%
PRC \| Maximum
Income Tax
Deferred income tax liability for the undistributed earnings	$ 9,490,162
Withholding income tax rate for dividends distributed (as a percent)	10.00%

Share-Based Compensation - Share Incentive Plan, Share Options, Binomial Model Assumptions (Details) - USD ($)				1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 01, 2016	Aug. 11, 2015	Aug. 10, 2015	Nov. 30, 2013	Aug. 31, 2013	Nov. 30, 2012	Oct. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2006
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
Share-Based Compensation
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)								$ 3.24
Assumptions used in the binomial model
Risk-free rate of return (as a percent)								2.61%		2.14%
Contractual life of option								10 years		10 years
Estimated volatility rate (as a percent)								65.64%		62.82%
Dividend yield (as a percent)								1.00%		2.56%
Leju Plan \| Employees Share Options \| Group's employees
Share-Based Compensation
Options granted for purchase of shares								2,135,000		2,517,000
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)								$ 3.24
Expiration period								10 years		10 years
Award vesting period								3 years		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
Omnigold Plan
Share-Based Compensation
Increase percentage of the then total outstanding shares on an as-converted fully diluted basis										5.00%
Number of shares authorized										5,000,000
Omnigold Plan \| Employees Share Options
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%
Omnigold Plan \| Employees Share Options \| Group's employees
Share-Based Compensation
Options granted for purchase of shares		2,400,000
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)			$ 1.50
Expiration period			10 years
Award vesting period			3 years
E-House Plan
Share-Based Compensation
Expiration period											10 years
Number of shares authorized											3,636,364
Number of shares that may be issued as a percentage of total outstanding shares											5.00%
Award grant period											3 years
Additional number of shares authorized					6,644,659	1,273,000	4,013,619
Transitional corporate service fees								$ 0	$ 1,254,915	$ 1,066,477

Share-Based Compensation - Options (Details) - Employees Share Options - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Leju Plan
Number of Options
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in shares)		7,746,383
Granted (in shares)		2,135,000
Exercised (in shares)		0	(66,424)	(196,185)
Forfeited (in shares)		(1,062,506)
Outstanding at end of the year (in shares)		8,818,877	7,746,383
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year (in shares)		8,545,759
Exercisable at end of the year (in shares)		6,332,380
Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in dollars per share)		$ 5.11
Granted (in dollars per share)		3.24
Forfeited (in dollars per share)		4.84
Outstanding at end of the year (in dollars per share)		4.69	$ 5.11
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year (in dollars per share)		4.72
Exercisable at end of the year (in dollars per share)		$ 4.99
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term
Outstanding at end of the year		7 years 26 days	7 years 6 months
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year		7 years 4 days
Exercisable at end of the year		6 years 4 months 6 days
Aggregate Intrinsic Value of Options
Exercised		$ 0	$ 43,253	$ 949,907
Additional disclosure
Weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted (in dollars per share)		$ 1.75		$ 3.44
Compensation expense		$ 2,674,454	5,576,034	$ 4,025,809
Deemed distribution		78,245	$ 883,286	$ 1,070,383
Total unrecognized compensation expense		$ 4,564,890
Weighted-average period over which cost is expected to be recognized		1 year 7 months 10 days
Omnigold Plan
Number of Options
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in shares)		2,205,000
Exercised (in shares)		0	0	0
Forfeited (in shares)		(150,000)
Outstanding at end of the year (in shares)		2,055,000	2,205,000
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year (in shares)		2,014,808
Exercisable at end of the year (in shares)		1,480,833
Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at beginning of the year (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		7 years 7 months 10 days	8 years 7 months 10 days
Vested and expected to vest at end of the year		7 years 7 months 10 days
Exercisable at end of the year		7 years 7 months 10 days
Additional disclosure
Weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.30
Compensation expense		$ 183,687	$ 226,951	$ 80,577
Total unrecognized compensation expense		$ 128,243
Weighted-average period over which cost is expected to be recognized		7 months 10 days

Share-Based Compensation - Restricted Shares (Details) - Leju Plan - Restricted Shares - USD ($)			12 Months Ended
	Aug. 21, 2014	Mar. 18, 2014	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Summary of restricted share activity
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in shares)			260,004
Vested (in shares)			(260,004)
Outstanding at end of the year (in shares)				260,004
Weighted Average Grant-date Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of the year (in dollars per share)			$ 11.34
Vested (in dollars per share)			$ 11.34
Outstanding at end of the year (in dollars per share)				$ 11.34
Additional disclosure
Total grant date fair value of restricted shares vested			$ 2,948,837	$ 3,737,772	$ 7,179,455
Compensation expense			666,723	3,248,658	5,273,322
Deemed distribution			0	$ 34,594	$ 41,580
Total unrecognized compensation expense			$ 0
Group's employees, directors and officers
Summary of restricted share activity
Granted (in shares)		866,000
Award vesting period		3 years
Group's employees
Summary of restricted share activity
Granted (in shares)	229,400
Award vesting period	8 months

Share-Based Compensation - Other Equity Compensation (Details) - Group of five employees - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Other Equity Compensation
Total unrecognized compensation expense	$ 4,276,810	$ 0
Recognition period of stock based compensation expense	2 years
Compensation expense		$ 0	$ 1,603,805	$ 2,138,404

Distribution of Profits (Details) - PRC - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Distribution of Profits (Details) - PRC - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
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	$ 8,776,513	$ 8,294,282
Restricted net assets	34,565,053	34,082,822
VIEs
Distribution of profits
Restricted net assets of subsidiaries and VIEs attributed to general reserve and registered capital	$ 8,772,778	$ 8,214,564

Segment Information (Details)	12 Months Ended
Segment Information (Details)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) item
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	$ 362,532,033	$ 559,511,110	$ 575,803,936
Revenue \| Customer risk
Revenue information of the Group
Number of customers \| item	0	0	0
E-commerce
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	$ 234,835,770	$ 419,023,733	$ 420,552,177
Online advertising
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	113,235,010	117,948,842	134,229,255
Listing
Revenue information of the Group
Total revenues	$ 14,461,253	$ 22,538,535	$ 21,022,504

Related Party Balances and Transactions (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Significant related party transactions
Loan from E-House			$ 89,462,593
Repayment loan to E-House		$ 1,862,593	87,600,000	$ 42,513,286
Dividend paid	$ 26,873,022			26,873,022
Amounts due from related parties					$ 4,077,008	$ 6,019,121
Amounts due to related parties					3,092,870	1,581,349
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Loan from E-House			89,462,593
Repayment of loan to E-House		(1,862,593)	(87,600,000)	(42,513,286)
Dividend paid to E-House	$ (26,873,022)			(26,873,022)
Ordinary Shares
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)							$ 0.20
ADSs
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)							0.20
E-House
Significant related party transactions
Corporate service provided by E-House under services agreements		5,447,864	8,585,821	6,040,071
Total services purchased from related parties		6,473,108	3,570,474	5,927,764
Total online advertising services provided to related parties		126,168	94,548	28,679
Loan from E-House			89,462,593
Repayment loan to E-House		1,862,593	87,600,000	42,513,286
Dividend declared				18,738,984
Dividend paid				18,738,984
Amounts due from related parties						6,019,121
Amounts due to related parties					1,376,955
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Balance at beginning of the year		(6,019,121)	7,783,911	1,560,283
Loan from E-House			89,462,593
Repayment of loan to E-House		(1,862,593)	(87,600,000)	(42,513,286)
Dividend declared to E-House				18,738,984
Dividend paid to E-House				(18,738,984)
Corporate service provided by E-House under services agreements		5,447,864	8,585,821	6,040,071
Service provided to E-House		(126,168)	(94,548)	(28,679)
Service purchased from E-House		6,473,108	3,570,474	5,927,764
Net (payment) receipt		(2,536,135)	(27,727,372)	36,797,758
Balance at end of the year		1,376,955	(6,019,121)	7,783,911
Amount due to/(from) E-House
Loan payable to E-House						1,862,593
Payables for services fee charged by E-house					1,376,955
Receivables for E-House collection on behalf of the Company						(7,881,714)
Amounts due to/(from) E-House		(6,019,121)	7,783,911	1,560,283	1,376,955	(6,019,121)
E-House \| Ordinary Shares
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Payment of a cash dividend (in dollars per share)							0.20
E-House \| ADSs
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
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		15,629,868	9,841,434	6,093,974
Total online advertising services provided to related parties			1,441	19,899
Amounts due to related parties					1,641,198	1,557,078
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House			(1,441)	(19,899)
CRERAT
Significant related party transactions
Total services purchased from related parties			56,928
Total online advertising services provided to related parties				3,174
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House				(3,174)
Service purchased from E-House			56,928
Yicang
Significant related party transactions
Total services purchased from related parties		185,632
Amounts due to related parties					74,717
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service purchased from E-House		185,632
Yunchuang
Significant related party transactions
Total services purchased from related parties		55,018
Business acquisition from Yunchuang		6,000,000
Amounts due from related parties					42,497
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service purchased from E-House		55,018
BaoKu
Significant related party transactions
Total services purchased from related parties			7,454
Total online advertising services provided to related parties			7,752
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House			(7,752)
Service purchased from E-House			7,454
BaoKu I&T
Significant related party transactions
Total online advertising services provided to related parties			140,639
Amounts due from related parties					$ 291,392
Rollforward of the 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
Total online advertising services provided to related parties		23,603
Amounts due to related parties						$ 24,271
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House		(23,603)
Total amount of transactions with related parties
Significant related party transactions
Total services purchased from related parties		44,407,900	22,062,111	18,061,809
Total online advertising services provided to related parties		149,771	244,380	51,752
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service provided to E-House		(149,771)	(244,380)	(51,752)
Service purchased from E-House		44,407,900	$ 22,062,111	$ 18,061,809
Jupai
Significant related party transactions
Total services purchased from related parties		267,001
Rollforward of the payable (receivable) balance
Service purchased from E-House		267,001
Tencent
Significant related party transactions
Online advertising agency fee recognized as cost of revenues purchased		$ 16,349,409
Amounts due from related parties					$ 3,743,119

Commitments and Contingencies (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Operating lease commitments
Rental expenses	$ 9,982,604	$ 9,984,844	$ 10,078,033
Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating lease agreements
2018	9,178,430
2019	7,909,968
2020	6,353,150
2021	2,140,406
2022	205,760
Then thereafter	617,280
Total	$ 26,404,994
Minimum
Operating lease commitments
Operating lease term	1 month
Maximum
Operating lease commitments
Operating lease term	96 months

Subsequent Events (Details) - Leju Plan - $ / shares		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Subsequent Events (Details) - Leju Plan - $ / shares	Mar. 21, 2018	Nov. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2015
Subsequent Events
Expiration period		10 years
Employees Share Options
Subsequent Events
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)			$ 3.24
Group's employees \| Employees Share Options
Subsequent Events
Options granted for purchase of shares			2,135,000	2,517,000
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)			$ 3.24
Expiration period			10 years	10 years
Award vesting period			3 years	3 years
Group's employees \| Employees Share Options \| Subsequent Events
Subsequent Events
Options granted for purchase of shares	1,045,000
Exercise price of shares granted (in dollars per share)	$ 1.55
Expiration period	10 years
Award vesting period	3 years

Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Employee Benefit Plans
Contribution by group	$ 21,542,245	$ 22,350,656	$ 20,413,820