Author: Wu Simin
"Four-bedrooms, shared by all girls, this 18-square-meter south-facing bedroom, last year's rent was 3,200 yuan/month, and now it's only 2,940 yuan/month."
Recently, when a reporter from China Business News visited the Wangjing business district in Chaoyang District, Beijing as a renter, Xiao Zheng, a real estate agent of a store in I Love My House, recommended the above-mentioned houses near the subway.
He said that the listing has been vacant for 10 days at present, and if he chooses a long-term lease, the owner also accepts bargaining.
Wangjing is the largest gathering place for Internet companies in Beijing except Zhongguancun.
According to the "2022 Beijing Housing Rental Work-housing Balance Evaluation Report" recently released by the Shell Research Institute, as Beijing's "hottest business district", the number of renters working in Wangjing is the largest.
According to Xiao Zheng, from June to August this year, with the arrival of the new employment force, the leasing market in this business district has begun to pick up and the transaction volume has increased, but the rent has remained stable, and the transaction cycle is also higher than the same period last year. .
In the peak rental season this year, Wangjing has become a typical example of the differentiation of the Beijing market.
Yicai’s research found that due to factors such as the decline in tenants’ personal income and willingness to spend, and the accelerated entry of affordable rental projects and differentiated long-term rental products into the market, this year’s graduation season and job-hunting season include Chaoyang Wangjing, Shuangjing, Dawanglu, and Changping. In many popular commuter rental areas, including Huilongguan and Haidian Shuangyushu, the transaction volume did not increase significantly from June to August, and the rent was basically the same as last year, or even slightly reduced.
However, this does not mean that the rent level in Beijing has dropped as a whole.
With the weakening of the impact of the epidemic and the arrival of the school season, driven by the rigid demand for general education and improved rental demand, since July, in Dongxicheng, Haidian Shangdi, Wanliu and other areas with strong school districts, as well as Shijingshan, Tongzhou and other environments In the peripheral areas of cities with better quality, newer houses, and increasingly complete supporting facilities, the rents have increased in varying degrees year-on-year.
Overall, according to the latest statistics from the China Index Research Institute, the month-on-month increase in rents in Beijing increased slightly in July compared with the previous month, but remained at a moderate level of 0.17%, which was lower than that of Shanghai, Hefei, Wuxi, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Chengdu and other hot spots. Tier 1 and 2 cities.
"At present, the rent level in Beijing is basically the same as that of the same period last year." In an interview with China Business News, the person in charge of Ziru Group gave two reasons from the supply side: First, as a mega city, Beijing is on the supply side of the rental market. It is sufficient, the supply structure and rental segment are also relatively rich, and the rental market has more choices.
In the past two years, with the accelerated entry of low-rent subsidized rental projects and long-term rental projects with less rent fluctuations, the overall rent increase has been further stabilized.
Second, since June this year, Beijing's Real Estate Intermediary Industry Association has called on various intermediaries to provide various security services for fresh graduates' rental housing.
So far, the association has coordinated a total of about 90,000 suites for fresh graduates of all levels to choose from.
Dachang has begun to live a "tight life", and the job search season in hot rental business districts is cold
Xiao Zheng said that Wangjing, known as "Beijing's second CBD", can actually better meet the needs of young people for job-housing balance.
Therefore, even before the epidemic, in this business district outside the Fourth Ring Road in the Northeast, the average rental price of a one-bedroom apartment has surpassed many popular business districts in the East Third Ring Road.
He told reporters that compared with the International Trade CBD business district, Wangjing has more diversified rental facilities, which can meet the multi-level and differentiated rental needs.
For example, for corporate executives who pursue quality, they can choose high-quality new houses with a monthly rent of between 10,000 and 15,000 yuan. For fresh graduates and ordinary "big factory" workers, the monthly rent is between 3,000 and 7,000 yuan. There are also plenty of shared rentals or one-bedroom whole rentals.
"In the past 5 or 6 years, with the entry of leading Internet companies, Wangjing's house prices and rents have jumped several times, but this year's increase has dropped significantly." Xiao Zheng said that during the job hunting season in July and August this year, shared rentals The rent of housing listings generally fell by 300-500 yuan compared with the average rent level of last year. The rent of the whole rental house was relatively firm, but the transaction cycle doubled compared with the same period last year, which was roughly 7-10 days. The rental demand for improved new houses was also relatively weak.
Behind this, it is not unrelated to the beginning of "tight days" for Internet manufacturers.
A real estate agent in Wangjing business district, Lianjia, mentioned to reporters that due to the combined effects of the epidemic, salary cuts and recruitment reductions by major factories, since the beginning of this year, the lease renewal rate of this business district has declined, and the cases of subletting and early release of leases have increased. In order to reduce the vacancy time of listings, landlords began to actively reduce prices.
Even though the rent has dropped, since the second quarter, the viewing volume and transaction volume of the Wangjing business district are still lower than the same period last year.
Xiao Zheng said that in April and May, the epidemic was greatly affected, and people from other places and other areas in the city were affected. The market transaction has picked up, but the rent acceptance of these groups is low, and the rental supply of the business district is sufficient, so the rent has not increased with the increase in demand.
After entering the job hunting season in August, the scale of newly employed young people coming to Wangjing to rent houses this year has not increased significantly due to the sharp increase in the number of graduates. In addition, short-term tenants have left the venue one after another, and some tenants who signed contracts during the graduation season last year have not significantly increased. Due to reasons such as changing jobs and not renewing the lease, the recovery momentum of the leasing market was lower than market expectations.
"At present, most landlords accept bargaining, and the transaction price of just-needed rental properties is roughly 50 to 100 yuan lower than the listed price." Xiao Zheng said.
The more stable rent increase has not left all the "workers" in the Wangjing business district.
After assessing their personal income status, some tenants decided to "break away" Wangjing and choose to live in the surrounding areas along the subway line, such as Chaoyang Jiuxianqiao and Shunyi District.
"Now, the rent in Wangjing is already at a high point. In 2020, a one-bedroom apartment of about 50 square meters will be rented in Wangjing, and the monthly rent level will be around 6,000 yuan. Since 2021, the price of such whole rental properties has been at a high point. At that time, it rose by nearly 1,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan. At present, the rental price is also roughly above 6,500 yuan." Liu Min is an employee of a large factory in Wangjing for two years.
After "getting off the single" this year, she plans to exchange a small two-bedroom apartment with her boyfriend.
"The rent in Wangjing can't be too high. We plan to change the lease to the Jiuxianqiao area. We have taken a fancy to a two-bedroom and one-bedroom apartment. The monthly rent is about 6,300 yuan."
Not only in Wangjing, but also in Shuangyushu, Haidian. At the beginning of this year, due to ByteDance's relocation from the surrounding area, the number of vacant houses in the area increased significantly. At the same time, due to repeated epidemics, the landlord's confidence in quotations was affected. The agency learned that the rent in the area is generally 300-400 yuan lower than last year's graduation season; in August, the rent increased, but it was still lower than last year's graduation season.
"The number of college graduates this year hit a new high, but at the district level, the relationship between supply and demand has not changed significantly compared with last year's graduation season. In addition, under normal circumstances, landlords will choose to renovate the house before the peak rental season in April and May. , in order to raise the rent level. However, due to the impact of the epidemic this year, many new houses in the graduation season are relatively simple to decorate, which also has a certain impact on the rent." A real estate agent in the area predicted to reporters that by the end of August, the rent around Shuangyushu will be rented. A recovery to the level of the same period last year is unlikely.
School district rental fever rises
In August, the graduation and job-hunting season for college students is coming to an end, but the school season for primary school students is just around the corner.
Compared with graduate tenants who have more choices in terms of rent and work-living distance, for family tenants who are looking for rental housing in order to satisfy their children’s schooling nearby, the choice of housing resources is narrower and more concentrated. , the contradiction between supply and demand is even greater.
The reporter learned that this year’s rental season, in the “East West Sea” (Dongcheng, Xicheng and Haidian), which is known as Beijing’s educational highland, is affected by factors such as parents “buying small and renting big” and school-age children being assigned places and adjusting places,7 , In August, rent increases in hot school districts increased unabated compared to previous years.
"I have a three-bedroom apartment of about 130 square meters in Deshengmen Sunshine Lijing, and I plan to hand it over to an intermediary for rent in mid-August. At the beginning of the month, I heard that the neighbor's house was rented out at a listed price of 32,000 per month, and it was sold on the same day. Because my house is better decorated, the quotation to the intermediary is 35,000 yuan/month, and the intermediary said that there is still room to increase the price." A community owner told reporters that last year, the monthly rent of a three-bedroom similar to Sunshine Lijing was around 25,000 yuan. .
Sunshine Lijing is located in the Desheng School District of Xicheng, which is one of the few secondary new communities in the school district.
According to the multi-school zoning policy in Xicheng District, when children of school age from families who have purchased a house in Xicheng District and obtained a house property certificate after July 31, 2020 apply for admission to primary schools, they will no longer be enrolled in the zoning school, and will all be divided into multiple schools. The way to enroll in the school district or adjacent school districts, Desheng housing prices have fluctuated several times.
In addition, the property market is still in a downward period, and many Desheng owners who originally planned to sell their houses chose to switch to the rental market.
Real estate agents in many school districts, including Xicheng Desheng, Xinjiekou, Yuetan, etc., told reporters that compared with last year's "School Season", the number of housing listings in the rental market increased slightly in early July this year, but high-quality housing listings Still nervous.
In the middle and late July, there are relatively few houses for parents to choose from, and the transaction cycle is further shortened.
After entering August, the supply continued to decrease. At this time, it was not far from the beginning of school for primary school students. Some landlords also completed the decoration. In August, the rental price of large apartments in Xicheng increased by about 200 to 600 yuan compared with the previous month.
"In recent years, the average annual rent increase for large and small units in the area has been between 3% and 5%. Due to the increase in the popularity of the school district this year, it is expected that the annual rent increase will exceed 5%." A Xinjiekou Area I love my real estate agent said.
The "old and broken" in the school district are also popular in the rental market.
The reporter learned that most of these "old and broken" houses are more than 40 years old and have no elevators. Some of them still have problems such as insufficient heating and no gas.
A real estate agent in a chain store in the Desheng area said that as of August this year, the rent for one-bedroom houses in Desheng had risen from an average of 5,500 yuan/month last year to 6,000-6,500 yuan/month.
"Half of the one-bedroom houses are rented to nearby office workers, and some of them are rented to their children studying nearby. Some of them have a property in the area. Some of them hope to rent another apartment in the same community for the elderly or the elderly. live alone."
Among the three districts of "East Sea", Dongcheng has the smallest area, and the demand for family leasing in the school district is limited. Moreover, the houses in the area are older. In the past few years, the rent increase in Dongcheng has been relatively flat.
"But this year, the owners generally reported that from June to August, the rent situation was better than the same period in the previous two years, and the impact of the epidemic on the expectations of both parties in the transaction was significantly weakened." A real estate agent in Dongcheng District introduced.
Subsidized rentals and long-term rental apartments are accelerating into the market, and the impact is geometric
This year, the number of college graduates in my country exceeded 10 million for the first time.
Among them, there were about 268,000 college graduates in Beijing, an increase of 16,000 over last year.
According to statistics from the Ziru Research Institute, in the past three years, about 77% of Beijing college graduates have chosen to stay in Beijing to rent a house for employment.
In addition to local graduates, Beijing and Shanghai are still the "first destinations" for college graduates across the country.
However, for young people in their early twenties who have just stepped out of school, taking root in Beijing often means embracing heavy rent pressure and long commuting distances.
According to the "Beijing Housing and Urban-Rural Development White Paper (2022)" released by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in August, in 2021, the average rent of the whole city's housing will be 88.6 yuan per square meter per month, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%.
According to data from the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the salary level of college graduates in Beijing in 2021 is between 4,000 and 11,000 yuan per month.
Based on this conservative estimate, college graduates with a monthly salary of 8,000 yuan rented a one-bedroom apartment of about 25 square meters in Beijing that year, and their monthly rent expenses accounted for roughly 28% of their total income.
This year, according to the data of the China Index Research Institute, as of the end of July, the average rent level in Beijing has reached 91.2 yuan per square meter per month, of which the average rent in Chaoyang, Haidian and Dongxicheng districts is between 113.4 and 161.7 yuan per square meter per month. month high.
Since August, the first financial survey has asked 25 newcomers to the workplace. They are all newly employed college students or have worked for 0 to 2 years, with a bachelor's degree or above, and work in enterprises and institutions in the above four districts.
Among them, 19 respondents said that rent expenses currently account for 20% to 25% of their monthly wages, while 6 respondents said that this proportion is about 25% to 30% or even higher.
In addition, the “2022 National Key 40 Cities Leasing Market July Report” recently released by the Shell Research Institute shows that tenants under the age of 35 are the main group in the leasing market, accounting for more than 60%, of which tenants over the age of 30 account for about 30%. Twenty percent.
For this type of young tenants, they are often faced with the need for family improvement leasing and the need for children to go to school.
In order to meet the transitional housing needs of young people and new citizens, since 2021, Beijing has focused on expanding the channels for preparation and construction to form a multi-level rental supply.
The above-mentioned white paper mentioned that in terms of market-oriented housing, we should increase land, fiscal and taxation, and financial support to increase the supply of long-term rental housing; in terms of policy housing, we should increase the effective supply of affordable rental housing to ease the need for new citizens, young people, and urban basic public housing. Housing issues for service personnel and various types of talents in the capital.
According to the "Beijing Daily", in order to speed up the implementation of the rental housing policy, Beijing took the lead in starting the pilot program with newly graduated college students. Since May, it has successively launched 4 pilot projects of subsidized rental housing youth apartment projects, in Haidian, Chaoyang, Fangshan and Changping. A total of 653 houses and nearly 1,000 houses have been launched in the district, and the rents are all lower than the market level, between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan.
"At present, there are few rental housing projects in Beijing with superior location, excellent quality and complete facilities. From the perspective of 'optimizing the business environment, regional job-housing balance, and alleviating traffic pressure', operators generally give priority to regional key enterprises or various The rental demand for talents that are mainly introduced in the class, and there are few cases of casual renting in the short term. Take the first project of Fanxing·Chaoyang Shibali Store as an example, 2/3 of the 2,300 houses in the first phase of the market have been pre-leased. Most of the tenants who signed the contract are employees of key enterprises in the 30-minute commuting area such as Guomao CBD and Chaoyang Science and Technology Park. From the perspective of the operator, we hope to build a youth rental community based on customer service and community development. The core. It is not only easy to manage, but also gathers people to form a circle, and even a micro-society, to drive the coordinated development of surrounding businesses and public services.” The person in charge of “Beijing Fanxing”, the first rental project under Beijing Capital Land Said in an interview with First Financial.
In the second quarter of this year, the "Capital Fanxing" Shibalidian project became the first large-scale rental community project in Chaoyang District to be certified as a leased house.
The above-mentioned person in charge revealed that the project is expected to be officially launched early next year.
Compared with other rental housing projects, this project is closer to the city center and has more complete facilities.
Taking into account the tenant's demand for rental housing and the acceptance of the rental level, 95% of the housing stock will be built into 30-40 square meters of studio type during planning.
The current price is about 3,000 yuan to 3,500 yuan per month.
The reporter searched for rental apps such as I Love My Home and Shell House, and found that as of August, the rent for a one-bedroom near Shilidian was around 3,800 to 5,500 yuan per month.
It is understood that as a subsidized rental project, the amount of the project's rent in the market, whether the annual rent rises, and how much the increase is, must be approved by the government, and the operator has no right to change it without authorization.
Regarding the short-term rental demand of casual tenants, Wang Yeqiang, director of the Land Economy and Real Estate Research Office of the Institute of Urban Development and Environment, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters: "The construction of existing affordable housing is mostly linked to government performance. It is quick and easy to manage, but it covers a limited number of people, and it is only a transitional management method. In the future, the rental housing project will inevitably turn to inclusiveness, open application channels, and standardize and normalize management.”
In addition, based on the consultation and feedback of pre-leasing companies and customers in the early stage, the person in charge of the Capital Fanxing project also mentioned that two major problems need to be solved urgently in tenant leasing: First, although the community has introduced high-quality inclusive kindergartens and public primary school education resources, However, it is not clear what conditions are required for the children of rented families to enroll in school except for the lease contract, and how to go to school after primary school. In the administrative region, it is difficult for them to apply for the rental housing project at the workplace as soon as possible.
In addition to easing the contradiction between supply and demand in the leasing market by increasing multi-level supply to curb the rapid rise in rents, Beijing is also accelerating legislation to protect the legitimate rights and interests of leasing stakeholders.
According to the above white paper, in 2022, we will promote the implementation of the "Beijing Housing Leasing Regulations", improve relevant supporting policies, and institutionalize the supervision of the leasing market; strengthen the governance of long-term rental, short-term rental, and Internet platforms, maintain a high-pressure law enforcement situation, and strictly investigate leasing. Intermediaries violated the rules and standardized the order of the rental market; carried out the action of renting into the campus and creating a "dynamic clearing" non-group rental community, and continued to carry out the publicity and guidance of the rental market to create a good atmosphere for public opinion.
On September 1, the "Beijing Housing Leasing Regulations" will be officially implemented. It is mentioned that when the housing rent rises significantly or is likely to rise significantly, the Municipal People's Government can take price intervention measures such as price increase declaration, rent limit or rent increase, etc. Stabilize the rent level and report to the State Council for the record according to law.
Wang Yeqiang reminded that this article is more of a warning and a bottom line.
"Rising rental prices will attract more funds and housing stock into the rental market, thereby reducing rental prices, which is itself a market adjustment behavior. The government does not need to intervene too much in rental prices except to regulate the market order."
(At the request of the interviewee, Xiao Zheng and Liu Min are pseudonyms in the text)