Text/Pang Wuji
The implementation of the real estate “white list” is accelerating.
Information recently released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the State Administration of Financial Supervision shows that as of the end of January, 170 cities in 26 provinces in China have established urban real estate financing coordination mechanisms, proposed the first batch of real estate project "whitelists" and pushed them to commercial banks , involving a total of 3,218 real estate projects.
Real estate projects that enter the "white list" will receive financial support more accurately, thereby better achieving "guaranteed delivery of the property."
“Whitelisting” brings real money. It is understood that after receiving the list, commercial banks reviewed the projects according to regulations and have issued loans totaling 17.86 billion yuan to 83 projects in 27 cities.
"Whitelist" is coming
On January 30, Nanning, Guangxi Province announced that it had established a real estate financing coordination mechanism and pushed the first batch of 107 real estate project "white lists" to local financial institutions.
On January 31, Chongqing City stated that it had jointly pushed the first batch of local real estate project “whitelists” to financial institutions. These include Huayu City Phase II, Longfor Haicheng Qingyun Tower, Vanke Smart Valley and other 314 projects, with financing needs of approximately 83 billion yuan, involving 22 financial institutions. The project "white list" has been pushed to 28 major banks including large banks, joint-stock banks, and off-site city commercial banks within the jurisdiction on January 30.
On the same day, the Chengdu Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department also announced that Chengdu had completed the first batch of whitelist reviews, covering 227 real estate projects.
Subsequently, Yunnan, Hubei and other places also successively released “white lists” of local real estate projects.
Real estate companies have also successively released news that "some projects have entered the white list", including some real estate companies that have encountered temporary difficulties.
The reporter learned that Sunac has currently had more than 90 projects shortlisted for the first batch of "white lists", involving cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Qingdao, Wuhan, Kunming, etc.
Shimao Group said that 16 of its real estate projects have entered the "white list". These 16 projects are mainly distributed in provinces and cities such as Guangdong, Hubei, Chongqing, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Liaoning and Shandong.
Country Garden also stated that it has confirmed that more than 30 projects have been approved to enter the "white list".
It is worth noting that in the first batch of real estate project lists, 84% of the projects are developed by private real estate companies and mixed-ownership real estate companies.
"Whitelist" from enterprise to project
Last year, there was news that the government would release a “white list” of financing for real estate companies. But in fact, the "white list" released ultimately targets real estate projects.
Li Yujia, chief researcher of the Housing Policy Research Center of the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Urban Planning, believes that the transformation of financing support from enterprises to projects is a feasible channel for the implementation of the real estate "white list". It is difficult for banks to fully grasp the integrity status of real estate companies, real financial data and other information. However, as long as the property rights of specific real estate projects are clear and the funds are closed (no funds are transferred or evacuated), the creditor's rights of financial institutions can be protected. This can Effectively eliminate information asymmetry between financial institutions and real estate companies.
Zhang Dawei, chief analyst of Centaline Real Estate, pointed out that sorting out the "white list" of projects means that real estate projects, not real estate companies, will be rescued in the future. The main purpose is to ensure the delivery of buildings and protect people's livelihood, rather than to provide support for insurance companies.
In this way, the scope of benefits will be wider. Zhang Dawei said that many of the real estate projects that can be shortlisted for the "white list" are high-quality projects of insurance real estate companies. These projects themselves are in good condition. Previously, they were dragged down by the group's debts, which led to the suspension of construction. Now that funds come in and "pull a hand", they can be quickly Revitalize. The implementation of loan support for "whitelist" real estate projects will help open the financing window for some high-quality projects, distinguish corporate risks from project risks, improve the liquidity of real estate companies, and promote a virtuous cycle of real estate and finance.
"Whitelist" should not be over-expanded
It only took one week from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development’s deployment of the real estate financing coordination mechanism on January 26 to the implementation of the mechanism. Li Yujia believes that such a fast speed is to send a positive signal to the market, stabilize the financing cash flow of housing enterprises, and block the spread of risks to sound operating companies. This is an important part of preventing and resolving real estate risks.
Many experts also reminded that entering the "white list" of a real estate project does not mean that financing can be obtained immediately. Financial institutions also need to make judgments and screenings based on project conditions. Only projects with good and positive assets can get loans.
Zhang Dawei also pointed out that care needs to be taken to prevent the "whitelist" from being abused or excessively expanded and losing its risk filtering significance. If a city frequently publishes a "white list" of hundreds of projects at a time, almost all local projects may end up on the "white list", which will weaken the "white list" and prevent this important mechanism from playing its due role.