Many places have introduced policies to support "selling old and buying new", encouraging real estate companies or institutions to repurchase old houses and help replace them with new ones.
Can the property market's "old-for-new" policy activate market demand?
News from this newspaper (Reporter Zou Tiran) Recently, the number of cities that have joined the ranks of “old for new” in the property market continues to grow. In late March, Linping District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province launched a "replacement and purchase" activity for old houses, which immediately aroused market attention and expectations. Industry insiders said that the "old for new" policy will help shorten the "sell old and buy new" cycle and further activate the market. More cities may introduce similar policies in the future.
It is understood that since 2023, Ningbo, Nanjing, Zibo, Nantong, Yangzhou, Haining, Jining and other places have launched "old-for-new" policies for replacement customers to help buyers who need to sell their old homes and replace them with new ones to lock in their intended new homes in advance. , shortening the sales cycle of old houses, thus activating the market demand for improvement.
Judging from the current policies issued by various places, there are two main models of "old for new" in the property market: the real estate company repurchase model and the intermediary-assisted sale model.
The real estate company repurchase model is when the real estate company or a third-party institution takes over the buyer's old house. Generally, the old house is evaluated first, and the old house is transferred to the real estate company. The real estate company then mortgages the house to the bank to obtain a loan. The loan is The payment for the old house is allocated to the home buyer to be used as a deduction for the payment of the new house.
In the intermediary-assisted selling model, the home buyer first selects a new house in the participating properties and signs a multi-party agreement integrating purchase, sale (rent) with development companies, brokerage companies, leasing companies, etc. Brokerage companies give buyers “priority in selling and renting” their old houses to shorten the transaction cycle. After the old house is sold or rented out, the buyer will fulfill the contract and complete the purchase procedures for the new house; if the old house is not sold or rented within the agreed time, the development company will fulfill the contract and refund the commercial housing subscription fee, and the buyer will not be liable for breach of contract.
Linping District, Hangzhou adopted the intermediary sales model for its “replacement and new purchase”. A local industry insider said that the biggest "selling point" of the "old-for-new" model is that home buyers can first lock in the intended house for free with the developer before the old house is sold. If the old house is not successfully sold, Home buyers can default without liability.
However, the reporter learned from interviews that compared with “replacing with new”, home buyers are more concerned about how to “sell the old”. At an intermediary agency, a staff member told reporters that after the "old for new" policy was launched, many people inquired, most of which were old customers who had already listed their houses.
Ms. Song, a resident of Hangzhou, put her two-bedroom apartment up for sale last year. She wanted to sell it and replace it with a new one, but the old house has not been sold so far.
"The premise of 'trade-in' is that the old house can be sold smoothly. Although the policy states that it will help us give priority to selling, second-hand houses are not easy to sell now, and the effect may be limited." Ms. Song said.
The reporter learned that in the real estate company buyback model, in order to encourage real estate companies and institutions to buy back, relevant localities have introduced supporting incentive measures, such as providing certain financial subsidies to real estate companies in proportion, or providing preferential treatment in tax and other aspects. In the intermediary-assisted selling model, relevant policies are mostly focused on the participating brokerage companies providing traffic to buyers' existing homes. Many people are cautiously optimistic about the intensity and effect of "priority selling".
In this regard, some people in the industry said that the current bottleneck of "old-for-new" is the sale of old houses. If buyers want to close the deal quickly, they need to make certain concessions in terms of price. If the sales jam of old houses cannot be cleared up, the transaction cycle of new houses locked in by home buyers will also be lengthened. Once the old houses fail to be sold, the pressure on developers to sell new houses will also increase, and real estate companies will be enthusiastic about participating in the "trade-in" of old houses. may also be affected. (Worker Daily)