Real estate market regulation "running in small steps" Many places in China lower the threshold for improving property purchases

　　China News Agency, Beijing, December 9th, title:

　　China News Agency reporter Pang Wuji

　　The warm air in the property market is gradually spreading to the field of improving housing purchases.

Recently, many places in China have introduced relevant policies to lower the threshold for house replacement and other improvements.

　　A few days ago, a number of media reported that some commercial banks in Nanjing adjusted their second-home loan policies again.

For homebuying families, if the first home loan has been settled, the first home loan policy for the purchase of the second home will be 30% down payment; if the first home loan has not been settled, the second home loan will be 40% down payment.

　　In August of this year, Nanjing had already lowered the down payment ratio for second-home loans: if the first-home loan is not settled, the down payment for the second-home loan will be reduced from 80% to 60%, and for those who have settled the loan, it will be reduced from 50% to 30%.

Li Yujia, chief researcher of the Housing Policy Research Center of the Guangdong Provincial Urban Planning Institute, said that the adjustment of Nanjing's housing policy adheres to the principle of "small steps and quick runs", and the range is not large each time, but the frequency is high.

On the one hand, it can avoid big ups and downs in the property market, and on the other hand, it can also gradually guide expectations according to market conditions, which is conducive to releasing improved demand and stabilizing the property market.

　　In addition, it was reported on the 9th that the purchase restriction policy of the Nanjing property market has been loosened, and local families can buy a third house in some areas.

　　In addition to Nanjing, Hangzhou has also recently adjusted the mortgage policy for second homes.

Hangzhou issued a new regulation in November stating that households in Hangzhou who do not have a house but have housing mortgage loan records and the corresponding loans have been settled, can purchase a second house according to the first-home loan policy, and the minimum down payment ratio is 40% (previously it was 60%).

This is the first time in Hangzhou that "recognizes the house but not the loan" after five years.

Nantong also recently issued a new policy on housing provident fund loans, using the number of housing provident fund loans as the standard for identifying housing units, that is, implementing the policy of "recognizing loans but not houses".

　　Previously, Fuzhou adjusted the down payment ratio for second homes with settled loans in the five urban districts from 50% to 40%, Hainan and Tianjin lowered the down payment ratio for second homes to 40%, and Xiamen slightly relaxed the purchase restriction policy outside the island.

According to agency statistics, there are currently 40% down payments for second- and third-tier cities in Dongguan, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Zhuhai, Tianjin, etc. Cities such as Dalian, Suzhou, and Wuhan slightly relaxed their housing purchase restriction policies.

　　The policy optimization for the second set of housing will help reduce the threshold for residents to buy improved houses such as changing houses, and promote the improvement of living conditions.

　　In an interview with a reporter from China News Agency, Cao Jingjing, general manager of the index business department of the China Index Research Institute, said that the demand-side policies in core second-tier cities such as Nanjing and Hangzhou have recently been implemented one after another, so as to reduce the threshold and cost of home buyers for home buyers. The signal significance is obvious.

　　According to the monitoring data of the middle finger, more than 300 local cities have introduced more than 1,000 real estate-related policies this year.

Cao Jingjing pointed out that due to factors such as the downturn in the industry and the weaker employment and income expectations of residents, since the beginning of this year, the buyers who just need a house have a strong wait-and-see mood, and the proportion of transactions of units below 90 square meters in the new house market has dropped significantly. For groups with rigid needs, the proportion of improved residential products with large units and high total prices has increased.

She believes that it is necessary to increase policy support when there is strong support for improving sexual demand.

Before the property market stabilizes, there is still room for improvement in the loan restriction policy in first- and second-tier cities and the purchase restriction policy in suburban areas.

　　Zhang Yan, executive president of E-House Enterprise Group and CEO of CRIC, also said that from the perspective of the product transaction structure of the domestic real estate market this year, the proportion of rigid-needed and first-time reformed products is shrinking across the board, while the proportion of improved residential products is on the rise. .

Improvement needs have become the mainstream needs of home buyers.

　　Studies have shown that the average number of housing units per urban household in China has exceeded 1.1.

People's demand for residential products has basically been "from scratch", and is currently in the process of "from existence to excellence".

However, most of the rounds of policy adjustments this year have been aimed at just-needed and first-time home buyers, while the cost of improving home buyers is still relatively high.

　　Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at China Merchants Union Finance and a part-time researcher at Fudan University's Institute of Finance, pointed out that the current housing credit policy adjustments are mainly focused on supporting rigid housing demand.

In the next step, there is still a lot of room for optimization in terms of how to better support the demand for improved housing.

He suggested that all localities increase the implementation of differentiated housing credit policies, speed up the adoption of measures such as reducing down payment ratios, canceling "recognizing housing and subscribing for loans", and further reducing loan interest rates.

　　In the medium and long term, improving demand may become the "main force" supporting the development of China's real estate market.

　　Cao Jingjing revealed that the seventh census data shows that first-tier cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai, as well as cities such as Xiamen and Wenzhou have a relatively high proportion of the population aged 35 to 49, and there is a large room for improvement in demand.

The Middle Finger Research Institute believes that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's new housing market will enter a downward phase after peaking in scale.

Improving demand resilience in 2022 is prominent, providing support for the market, and this trend is expected to continue in 2023.

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