Xinhua Review: Promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market

Xinhua Commentary: Promoting the Stable and Healthy Development of the Real Estate Market - Implementing the Spirit of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Doing a Good Job in the Current Economic Work Series No. 5

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 5th.

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Youling, Liu Xiacun and Zheng Juntian

　　The Politburo meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held on April 29 proposed to adhere to the positioning that houses are for living in, not for speculation, support localities to improve real estate policies based on local realities, support rigid and improved housing needs, and optimize commercial housing forecasts. The supervision of sales funds will promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market.

　　At present, to fully implement the spirit of the Politburo meeting of the CPC Central Committee, it is necessary to maintain the positioning, implement policies according to the city, work hard on the accuracy of regulation, effectively manage and control key risks, do a good job of "stability", and take comprehensive measures to promote the real estate industry into a benign cycle.

Adhere to the principle of "stable character" to promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market

　　Since the beginning of this year, the overall operation of the national real estate market has been stable, but its downward trend requires great attention.

　　From the perspective of several key indicators of the real estate industry: real estate development investment in the first quarter increased by 0.7% year-on-year; in March, among the 70 large and medium-sized cities, the sales price of commercial housing in various tier cities fell or the increase fell; the sales area of ​​commercial housing in the first quarter decreased year-on-year. 18.6%; land acquisition area decreased by 41.8% year-on-year; real estate development enterprises' in-place funds decreased by 19.6% year-on-year.

　　Affected by the rebound of the epidemic, the exposure of individual leading real estate companies' debt default risks, and the expected decline in personal income, the real estate market is expected to weaken, real estate sales have declined, and corporate liquidity risks have gathered.

　　In the real estate market, due to the explosion of individual housing companies, banks and other financial institutions have tightened financing, sales have declined, and some places have irregular supervision of pre-sale funds for commercial housing. Multiple factors have exacerbated the liquidity risk of housing companies. The market microcirculation is "blocked".

　　For a long time, groups with just-needed and improved housing needs have faced higher loan interest rates, and the criteria for identifying the qualifications for the first home in some places have yet to be improved. These factors have increased the cost of home buyers and exacerbated the tendency of housing consumers to delay entering the market.

　　In 2021, the added value of my country's real estate industry will account for 6.8% of GDP.

The real estate industry has a large scale, a long chain and a wide range of areas, and plays a pivotal role in the national economy.

　　"Real estate can be both a 'ballast stone' and a 'risk source' for economic and social development, and has an important systemic impact on economic and financial stability and risk prevention," said Ni Pengfei, director of the Urban and Competitiveness Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. .

　　Liu Lin, a researcher at the China Academy of Macroeconomics, said that the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee released a positive signal of "steadiness in the first place" around the development of the real estate market.

While keeping the bottom line of risks, all localities can implement more targeted and flexible city-specific policies to promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market, improve land transfer conditions, support the first rigid housing demand and reasonable improvement needs, and target new citizens. , young people and other groups to increase the supply of affordable rental housing.

Adhere to "policies tailored to the city" to guide a virtuous circle in the real estate market

　　Lowering the threshold for purchasing and selling restrictions, lowering the down payment ratio, lowering the mortgage loan interest rate... Since the beginning of this year, nearly 110 cities have issued various real estate market control policies.

　　Experts said that the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee put forward two "supports" and one "optimization", which fully released the policy signal of implementing policies in different places in different cities.

　　my country has a vast territory, and the real estate market varies greatly between regions, and the market differentiation is obvious.

The contradiction between supply and demand in some hot cities in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions is still relatively prominent for a long time, and the market recovery is expected to gradually increase. However, the market in some cities where the population continues to flow out is still operating at a low level.

　　In response to the new situation and new challenges, all localities focus on supporting the first set of rigid housing needs, reasonable improvement needs, and rental housing needs to implement city-specific policies; relevant departments have introduced measures to promote a virtuous cycle of the real estate market.

　　Banks in more than 100 cities have voluntarily lowered their mortgage interest rates according to market changes and their own business conditions; some cities have raised the upper limit of housing provident fund loans for families with two or three children who purchase their first home; expanded mortgage loans to support high-quality enterprises in the purchase of their first homes. M&A loans of insurance companies are allowed to extend debt; standardize the supervision of pre-sale funds; affordable rental housing loans are not included in the management of loan concentration...

　　Optimize the housing supply structure and vigorously develop rental housing.

Speed ​​up the construction of affordable rental housing and develop the long-term rental market.

According to relevant statistics, at present, the proportion of the rental population in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and other big cities has reached more than 40% of the permanent population.

In 2022, the total investment in affordable rental housing for basic construction across the country is estimated to be about 850 billion yuan.

　　Fu Linghui, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics and director of the National Economic Comprehensive Statistics Department, said that as many places moderately loosen restrictions on purchases and sales, lower the threshold for the use of provident funds, and speed up the approval of housing loans, housing demand in some cities has been released. The decline in sales area will be narrowed.

　　In terms of the supervision of pre-sale funds, experts suggest that all localities should improve the supervision of pre-sale funds, make it clear that the pre-sale funds should give priority to the payment of project funds, and allocate funds in strict accordance with project nodes to ensure on-time completion and delivery.

To prevent risks, excessively increase the supervision limit, and slow down the progress of loan disbursement.

　　"It is very important to promote the clearing of explosive housing companies as soon as possible, and to stabilize market expectations." Liu Lin said that on the one hand, by reducing the first home loan interest rate and housing transaction taxes, it will improve the ability of home buyers to pay, boost reasonable housing consumption demand and improve On the other hand, it is necessary to resolutely and forcefully deal with the overdue delivery risk of real estate projects caused by the default of debts by individual real estate companies, with the primary goal of “guaranteing the delivery of buildings, people’s livelihood, and stability”, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers. .

Adhere to "housing and not speculating", and stick to the bottom line of risk

　　The Politburo meeting of the Central Committee reiterated that it adhered to the positioning of "houses are for living in, not for speculation".

　　At present, the real estate market with a scale of up to 10 trillion yuan is undergoing deep adjustment.

The underlying logic of real estate development and operation of "high debt, high leverage, and high turnover" formed in the past is changing, and the real estate industry's status as a high-quality leading basic livelihood industry is being established and consolidated.

　　The positioning of "houses are for living, not for speculation" has become a social consensus.

This position has not been shaken, and the strength has not been relaxed.

　　Feng Jun, president of the China Real Estate Association, said that all localities cannot deviate from this positioning and direction when implementing policies based on cities, let alone seek medical treatment in a hurry, and use real estate as a tool and means to stimulate the economy in the short term.

The key is to continue to implement the long-term mechanism for real estate, maintain the continuity and stability of regulatory policies, enhance precision and coordination, and strive to achieve the goals of stabilizing land prices, housing prices, and expectations.

　　The real estate industry bid farewell to the development and operation model of high debt, high leverage, and high turnover, and after returning to the basic livelihood attributes and the combination of rent and purchase, there is still a lot to do.

　　At present, the fundamentals of my country's real estate market have not changed, and housing demand is still strong.

The urbanization rate of my country's permanent population is 63.9%, and it is still in the stage of rapid urbanization. Every year, more than 11 million new urban jobs are created, which brings a large number of new housing needs.

　　At the same time, a large number of old houses built before 2000 are of small size, poor quality and incomplete supporting facilities, and residents have a strong demand for improving their living conditions.

　　Thinking about the overall situation and the long-term, respecting the real estate market and the development law of the real estate industry, exploring new models of real estate development, anchoring the people's growing yearning for a better life, and providing people with affordable housing with more comfortable living conditions and a more beautiful environment. All people have a place to live, which is the fundamental essence of promoting the steady and healthy development of the real estate market.