□Peng Peng
The General Office of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing Policies and Measures for the Stable and Healthy Development of the City's Real Estate Market", the most eye-catching of which is the further liberalization of the real estate purchase restriction policy. In terms of optimizing and adjusting the purchase restriction policy, Guangzhou is currently within the purchase restriction area, and the purchase of housing with a construction area of more than 120 square meters (excluding 120 square meters) is not included in the purchase restriction scope.
Prior to this, Guangzhou had already relaxed purchase restrictions in peripheral areas. Before the National Day last year, Guangzhou stipulated that those who purchased housing in Yuexiu, Haizhu, Liwan, Tianhe, Baiyun (excluding Jianggao Town, Taihe Town, Renhe Town, Zhongluotan Town), Nansha and other districts must be registered residents of this city. Families are limited to purchasing 2 houses; non-local residents with household registration in the city are limited to 1 house if they can provide proof of continuous personal income tax payment or social insurance certificate in the city in the two years before the date of house purchase.
At present, Guangzhou is at the forefront of first-tier cities in relaxing restrictive real estate policies. Of course, this is also consistent with the national real estate policy.
The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on July 24, 2023 clearly stated that it is necessary to effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas, adapt to the new situation of major changes in the supply and demand relationship in my country's real estate market, timely adjust and optimize real estate policies, and make good use of the policy toolbox to implement city-specific policies. Better meet residents’ rigid and improved housing needs and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market. Since then, under the macro guidance of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development’s “city-specific policies”, various easing restrictive policies have been continuously introduced across the country. Relatively speaking, first-tier cities have been more cautious.
On January 26, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development proposed at the deployment meeting of the urban real estate financing coordination mechanism that to adapt to the new situation of major changes in the supply and demand relationship in the real estate market, accelerate the construction of a new model of real estate development, combine long-term and short-term measures, and address both symptoms and root causes to promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market. . We must adhere to city-specific policy implementation, precise policy implementation, and one policy for one city, make good use of the policy toolbox, and fully empower cities with autonomy in real estate regulation. Each city can adjust real estate policies according to local conditions. Guangzhou’s “Notice” was issued on January 25 and officially implemented on January 27. This shows that Guangzhou is at the forefront of first-tier cities in the new round of real estate policy adjustments.
From the perspective of policy impact, first of all, it is a big benefit to the original purchase-restricted areas. According to the original policy, Yuexiu, Haizhu, Liwan, Tianhe, Baiyun (excluding Jianggao Town, Taihe Town, Renhe Town, Zhongluotan Town), Nansha and other areas are restricted areas for housing purchase. Now, there is no longer a purchase restriction of more than 120 square meters in these areas. Both Guangzhou locals and foreigners can buy houses of more than 120 square meters in these areas. On the one hand, the New Deal will promote the emergence of new purchasing power, and those who were originally interested in buying houses in Guangzhou will now have a wider range of choices; on the other hand, as the economic situation and the real estate market have not yet fully recovered, explosive real estate speculation may occur. Not very sexual.
Secondly, it has positive significance for the launch of the large-scale real estate market. The average property price in Guangzhou's original purchase-restricted areas is generally over 50,000 yuan per square meter, and the price of a house over 120 square meters is usually more than 6 million yuan. Therefore, the new policy of liberalizing purchase restrictions may promote high-net-worth groups to enter the market.
Thirdly, its role in attracting talents and high-net-worth individuals from other places is even more obvious. Theoretically, those with a bachelor's degree or above can settle in Guangzhou, and purchase restrictions will have little impact on them. However, as a first-tier city and the core engine city of the Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou may also attract talents and high-net-worth individuals who do not plan to settle down but want to buy property here. This may be where the purchasing power of houses above 120 square meters lies.
Of course, according to the "Notice" and the interpretation of the Guangzhou Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, there are supporting policies to further support the rigid and improved housing demand in the purchase-restricted area, such as supporting "rent-to-buy", "sell-to-buy", "transfer, Combined registration and integrated processing" etc. This has a positive effect on activating market transactions.
In addition, the "Notice" also made arrangements for increasing the construction of affordable housing, supporting the reasonable financing needs of real estate projects, and strengthening the supervision of the real estate market. It clarified the overall principle of "seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through promotion, and establishing before breaking." ideas and the positioning principle of "insisting that houses are for living in, not for speculation".
(The author is the president of the Guangzhou Doctoral Science and Technology Innovation Research Association and the executive president of the Guangdong Provincial Institutional Reform Research Association)