Let's take action together, the real estate market is breaking out! Four trillion dollar cities
China Fund News reporter Li Zhi
Intensive release, multiple real estate market benefits are coming!
On September 19th, two major provincial capitals announced new policies for the real estate market, including Wuhan announcing the cancellation of housing purchase restrictions within the Second Ring Road and Xi'an lifting purchase restrictions in areas outside the Second Ring Road. In addition, the purchase restriction policy has been lifted throughout the city of Wuxi, and Qingdao will implement the policy of "recognizing houses but not loans". The GDP of these four cities in 2022 will all exceed one trillion yuan.
Wuhan: Cancellation of Housing Purchase Restrictions within the Second Ring Road
On September 19th, the Wuhan Housing Security and Housing Management Bureau issued a notice on further promoting the stable and healthy development of the real estate market in our city. The notice clearly states that the housing purchase restriction policy within the second ring road will be lifted, the criteria for determining the number of household housing loans will be optimized, and support will be provided for residents to purchase alternative housing.
The notice mentions that starting from September 19, 2023, the housing purchase restriction policy within the second ring road in Wuhan will be lifted to meet the rigid and improved housing needs of residents. This also means that Wuhan will completely abolish housing purchase restrictions.
Simultaneously optimize the criteria for determining the number of household housing loans. For families with multiple children, when purchasing a house loan, the second house purchased is recognized as the first house, and the third house purchased is recognized as the second house. For families who already have two houses and purchase a new house on the premise of listing or renting one, it will be recognized as the second house when purchasing a loan.
Support residents to purchase alternative housing. From September 19, 2023 to December 31, 2023, taxpayers who sell their existing housing and purchase new commercial housing within six months, as well as those who purchase new commercial housing and sell their existing housing before delivery, will be subsidized by the finance department of the district where the new commercial housing is purchased, at a rate of 1% of the taxable price, for the value-added tax already paid on the sale of their existing housing.
In terms of preferential support for purchasing a house, those who purchase their first newly-built commercial housing before December 31, 2023 can enjoy a 10000 yuan digital consumption voucher for home appliances and furniture or a purchase voucher. We will continue to carry out online and offline housing fairs. For those who purchase the first house during the housing fair, subsidies will be given based on the amount of deed tax payable. For those who purchase the second house, subsidies will be given based on 50% of the amount of deed tax payable.
Wuhan City will adjust the housing provident fund loan amount in stages. Before December 31, 2023, if an employee who has paid for housing provident fund purchases ordinary self occupied housing in our city, the loan amount can be increased by 20% according to the current loan amount of the employee's family, and it does not exceed the maximum loan amount for housing provident fund loans in our city. The policy of increasing loan limits does not overlap with other policies of increasing housing provident fund loans.
In addition, a combination of policies will be implemented to revitalize enterprise assets, strengthen precise land supply, accelerate the revitalization of existing land, actively assist enterprises in alleviating difficulties, and establish a "whitelist" management system for real estate development enterprises.
Xi'an: Purchase restrictions lifted in areas outside the Second Ring Road
On September 19th, the Xi'an Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau held a work conference to promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.
The meeting proposed: firstly, to further optimize and adjust the scope of purchase restrictions, and to cancel purchase restrictions in areas outside the Second Ring Road in Xi'an. The second is to comprehensively promote the "transfer of property with collateral" and implement the preferential policies for tax refunds on exchanged housing. The third is to increase the supply of rigid and improved housing, do a good job in price monitoring and guidance, and ensure a balanced supply and demand, reasonable structure, and stable prices in the real estate market. The fourth is to strictly implement the system of disclosing real estate sales information and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of homebuyers. The fifth is to implement phased processing of construction permits and joint inspections, and comprehensively promote the "certificate delivery upon delivery" of newly built commercial housing. Sixth, improve the integrity evaluation mechanism of real estate enterprises and promote their lawful and honest operation.
Wuxi: Cancel purchase restrictions throughout the city
On September 19th, the Wuxi Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau issued a notice on several policy measures to promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market in our city.
The notice clearly states that the purchase restriction policy will be lifted throughout the city, and the "house recognition but not loan recognition" policy will be implemented to reduce the down payment ratio for the purchase of the first home.
The notice takes six measures, including optimizing land transfer policies, making full use of the real estate regulation toolbox, further meeting the housing needs of various groups, accelerating urban renewal and construction, promoting stock renovation, further optimizing the business environment, and adjusting and improving relevant management methods, to continuously promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.
In terms of making full use of the real estate regulation toolbox, the purchase restriction policy has been lifted throughout the city of Wuxi. Move the Taihu Lake Street and Huazhuang Street of the Economic Development Zone out of the restricted purchase area; Cancel the existing restrictive measures for purchasing houses, and for households purchasing commercial housing within the urban area, real estate enterprises and real estate brokerage institutions will no longer verify their eligibility to purchase houses; Cancel the limit on the number of new commercial housing units purchased by enterprises and institutions.
Implement the policy of "recognizing houses but not loans". When a resident family applies for a loan to purchase commercial housing, if their family members do not have a complete set of housing in our city, regardless of whether they have used the loan to purchase housing, banking and financial institutions will implement the housing credit policy for the first set of housing.
Reduce the down payment ratio for purchasing the first home. According to the notice of the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Financial Supervision on adjusting and optimizing differentiated housing credit policies, for residential families who purchase commercial housing with loans, the minimum down payment for commercial personal housing loans for the first housing shall not be less than 20%, and the minimum down payment ratio for commercial personal housing loans for the second housing shall not be less than 30%. Guide commercial banks to orderly reduce the interest rates of existing housing loans.
Qingdao implements the policy of "recognizing houses but not loans"
On September 19th, multiple departments including the Qingdao Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau issued a notice on optimizing the standards for determining the number of housing units in personal housing loans in our city. This notice shall come into effect from the date of its publication.
The notice clearly states that when a resident family applies for a loan to purchase commercial housing, if their family members do not have a complete set of housing under our city's name, regardless of whether they have used the loan to purchase housing, banking and financial institutions will implement the housing credit policy for the first set of housing. The number of household housing units is provided by the real estate registration departments at all levels based on the application or authorization of the resident family, providing query services and issuing query results or identification certificates.
This also means that Qingdao has clearly implemented the policy of "recognizing houses but not loans", and previously, Qingdao has completely lifted housing purchase and sales restrictions.
There is still room for optimization in core city policies
Just yesterday, Xiamen City lifted the purchase and sale restrictions on commercial housing in four districts including Jimei District, and Tianjin City also clearly stated that it will implement the policy of "recognizing houses but not loans". Previously, cities such as Hefei, Zhengzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, and Dalian have announced the complete lifting of purchase and sales restrictions.
The Kerui Research Center stated that in the 38th week of 2023, 36 cities optimized and adjusted their real estate policies, the highest number in a single week since 2022. Under the influence of policies, transactions in cities at all levels have rebounded month on month.
The Zhongzhi Research Institute stated that from the perspective of policy trends, there is still room for optimization in core cities. Second tier cities are expected to completely cancel the restrictive policies previously introduced during the overheated market stage. The policy adjustment in first tier cities depends on the degree of market recovery, and in the future, it is expected to optimize the purchase restriction policy according to the principle of implementing policies based on different regions. In addition, reducing the down payment ratio, lowering the mortgage interest rate markup, and lowering transaction taxes are also policy optimization directions for first tier cities. At the same time, the recognition standards for ordinary residential properties in Beijing and Shanghai have not been adjusted for ten years, and there is room for optimization.
From the perspective of national market trends, with further policy follow-up and implementation in core cities, the market is expected to gradually stabilize and recover, thereby driving the national real estate market to gradually build a bottom and stabilize, with overall price stability. Among them, prices in third - and fourth tier cities may continue to decline in the short term. From the perspective of the supply side, under the overall slow recovery of the sales side, it is expected that the willingness of enterprises to start production and investment will be weak, and the supply side recovery will take longer. Among them, the core cities are expected to improve their production and investment first, driven by the increase in sales activity.
