BEIJING – China’s capital has loosened curbs on home purchases, the last of the country’s most developed cities to do so, in efforts to revive the struggling property sector.
Analysts told The Straits Times that the relaxed restrictions on home buying have helped to stimulate consumers’ interest in purchasing homes, which had long been stymied by a persistent slide in prices. But whether this will translate into an actual housing market recovery still remains to be seen. Beijing’s measures are similar to those rolled out in financial hub Shanghai and tech hub Shenzhen, where policymakers have elected to relax home buying costs less liberally than in other cities to avoid stoking new property bubbles.
These cities are China’s most economically dynamic, drawing large inflows of people and, in turn, demand for housing. This makes properties attractive to investors, said Ms Zhang, who is based in Shenzhen as deputy dean of real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield’s research institute. It has been six weeks since China put forth its most significant measures yet to rescue the property sector. Apart from slashing down payments and mortgage rates to boost consumer demand, the central government’s policy package also included a push for local governments and state-owned enterprises to help reduce a glut of excess homes by buying these and turning them into affordable housing.
He will be keeping an eye on real estate sales data in the second half of 2024 to see if a steady recovery emerges.