China News Service, February 19 (China News Business Reporter Zuo Yukun) Before the Spring Festival, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen successively adjusted their purchase restriction policies. First-tier cities with the strictest property market policies sent out "New Year gift packages", releasing their years of " This is a sign that the "purchase restriction ice" is beginning to melt.
At the same time, during the Spring Festival, the traditional home buying period, the increase in the number of people returning home has stimulated more potential demand for home ownership, and developers in various tier cities have launched preferential activities during the Spring Festival.
Shell Research Institute monitors that the number of second-hand housing inspections and transaction volume in 50 key cities during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday has rebounded significantly compared with 2023. According to statistics on the average daily number of house viewings during the eight-day holiday, first-tier cities increased by 90% compared with last year's Spring Festival, only slightly lower than in 2021; second-tier cities increased by 180%, and third-tier cities increased by 140%, both significantly exceeding the previous three years.
Data map: City scene. Photo by Sun Quan
Optimization and acceleration of purchase restrictions in first-tier cities
Chen Li (pseudonym), who has been drifting in Beijing for many years, finally got the house ownership certificate for her small family before the Spring Festival.
"To be honest, it's really not easy for us ordinary people to buy a house in Beijing. Almost all of our husband and wife's savings went into the down payment, and we also need help from our parents and a large loan." Chen Li finally settled on a house Regarding the two-bedroom second-hand house that is about 15 years old, "I have not yet considered the issue of children's schooling in the future, let alone investing. I just want to have a small home first."
Chen Li's determination this time has a lot to do with the new policies introduced by Beijing on December 14, 2023 to reduce down payment ratios, lower commercial loan interest rates, and adjust common housing standards. "First of all, the lower down payment ratio allowed us to meet this threshold; secondly, after the introduction of the policy, the mentality of both buyers and sellers changed. The original owner who was eager to sell gave us some discounts, and we simply settled on it."
One phenomenon worth noting is that the performance of second-hand houses during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday was stable compared to new houses.
"Generally, the transaction volume of second-hand houses is low during the Spring Festival, but this year the transaction volume level in the 50 key cities still increased significantly compared with last year, with a year-on-year increase of more than 70%." Shell Research Institute data also shows.
The implementation of the last wave of new policies in Beijing has brought about an increase in the number of second-hand housing inquiries and online signings, making the market full of expectations for the further development of the policy. On February 6, Tongzhou District optimized the "double-restriction" policy for home purchases that has been implemented for more than eight years. If families who have settled or are employed in Tongzhou District need to purchase commercial housing in Tongzhou District, they only need to meet Beijing's purchase restriction conditions. The restrictions in Tongzhou have been cancelled. Restrictions on settling down or paying taxes and social security for three years.
The introduction of policies before the Spring Festival is considered to give home buyers time to consider and prepare before returning home during the Spring Festival. The China Index Research Institute believes that overall, optimizing the purchase restriction policy in Tongzhou District before the Spring Festival holiday is expected to further promote the recovery of market expectations, and the effect of the policy may gradually appear after the Spring Festival holiday.
Shanghai is also a first-tier city that has opened purchase restrictions before the holiday. On January 30, Shanghai officials announced that singles outside the outer ring road who are not registered in the city will be able to buy houses. Non-local residents in Shanghai who have paid social security or personal income tax for 5 consecutive years or more can buy houses outside the outer ring road (except Chongming District). A house.
In addition, among the four first-tier cities, Guangzhou is considered to have made the most adjustments to purchase restrictions, that is, there are no longer purchase restrictions for houses over 120 square meters; followed by Shenzhen, which has lowered the threshold for foreigners to purchase houses, and the social security payment period has been reduced from 5 years to 3 years. , local household registration no longer requires residence, social security and individual tax years.
"The above policies and the 'Little Indian Spring' are equivalent to a 'double insurance' for the post-holiday market. Once this market expectation is realized, the market's confidence will be further strengthened." Lu Wenxi, chief analyst of Shanghai Zhongyuan Real Estate, believes.
Data map: Sales office. Photo by Zhang Yuhuan
Long vacation activates enthusiasm for returning home and buying property
The "2024 Spring Festival Home Buying Intention Survey" released by 58.com and Anjuke shows that more than 80% of interested people choose to view and buy houses during the Spring Festival. Among them, 37.1% of the people have a clear intention to buy a house during the Spring Festival, and 46.2% of the people are more inclined. The main reason for taking advantage of the Spring Festival holiday to view properties is that you will have plenty of free time and more discounts on home purchases during the holiday.
During the popular period for returning home to buy property, in addition to first-tier cities, many developers in second-, third-, and fourth-tier cities also put up lights and decorations, trying to gain something during the "Spring Festival".
Yan Rui (pseudonym), who has been looking for work in other places for five years after graduating from university, chose to return to his hometown in a third-tier city to work in 2023. Looking at the housing prices which are much more friendly than those in first-tier cities, Yan Rui regards buying a house as the top priority in starting a new life.
"It's much easier to choose a location in a small city. You can identify several properties with just a few filters, and it's only a 10-minute drive from popular business districts. Moreover, the house types are all correct, and the layout planning is very reasonable." Yan Rui said during the Spring Festival During this period, I booked a house of about 160 square meters with a total price of 1.56 million yuan. The various Spring Festival promotions added up to a discount of about 50,000 yuan.
"Most of our new home sales offices here are not closed during the Spring Festival. Only a small number of them are not open from New Year's Eve to the second day of the Lunar New Year. Others are actively receiving customers." Yan Rui's real estate consultant told reporters that they and the local Temple fairs, lantern festivals, etc. cooperated to launch a series of Spring Festival activities.
The real estate consultant revealed that this Spring Festival can be said to be the most lively holiday in recent years. The sales office where I work has booked more than ten houses. The popular 6-9 floors have basically been sold in the first batch, although they may be at least 50,000 yuan more expensive than the same units on other floors.
Many cities also showed long-lost enthusiasm during this Spring Festival. Data from the Shell Research Institute shows that among second- and third-tier cities, the transaction volume in Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hefei, Chengdu, Ningbo, Foshan, Jinan, Wuxi, Yinchuan, Luoyang, Huizhou, Changzhou and other cities has doubled compared with last year.
"Preliminary analysis shows that the policy optimization in second- and third-tier cities is relatively strong, and the adjustment of housing prices has reached a certain stage, and consumers' willingness to view houses has been fully activated." Shell Research Institute predicts that this kind of enthusiasm is expected to continue to be released in the first quarter.
The China Index Research Institute believes that after the Spring Festival, residents' work and home purchases will gradually get back on track. In cities such as first-tier and core second-tier cities that have introduced policies in the early stage, the effects of the policies are expected to be further demonstrated. In the short term, core first- and second-tier cities are still expected to continue optimizing demand-side policies, accelerating the implementation of the "three major projects", and increasing corporate financial support. The supply-side and demand-side policies are expected to promote the gradual stabilization of the real estate market. (over)