Two Chinese megacities, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province (east) and Xi’an in Shaanxi province (northwest), announced on Thursday that they would lift all restrictions on the purchase of houses, in order to support the market local real estate and strengthen market confidence. These announcements follow similar decisions made recently in other major cities such as Chengdu, Shenzhen and Beijing.
The Hangzhou Housing Authority said in a notice it would no longer review the qualifications of home buyers. Restrictions on residential property purchases lasted for eight years, Xinhua news agency reported.
Last October, the city announced that it would reduce the scope of home purchase restrictions to four central districts, including Shangcheng district, and also remove all restrictions on home purchases from 9 may.
Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, announced similar measures. Local authorities said they would remove all restrictions on residential property purchases and no longer review the qualifications of buyers of new and used homes.
As of Thursday, a total of 35 Chinese cities eased restrictions on home purchases, while 24 completely removed all restrictions on residential property purchases. In addition, more than 160 cities have adopted policies to relax home purchases, CCTV News reported.
According to several Chinese analysts, these measures will encourage other cities to follow suit and strengthen market confidence.
“Other Chinese regions and cities will launch a new wave of policy relaxation and real estate development,” says Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institute.
Chinese authorities have recently stepped up measures to support the real estate sector. The latest meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held on April 30, called for measures to support the real estate sector, saying that city-specific policies should be implemented, but also that local governments, real estate companies and financial institutions should shoulder their share of responsibilities to ensure the realization of housing projects and protect the legitimate rights and interests of housing buyers.
Combining the new changes in the relationship between supply and demand in the real estate market and the aspirations of the population to acquire high-quality housing, it is imperative to conduct research on policies and measures aimed at reducing the housing inventory and improve the quality of new housing in a coordinated manner. New development modes of the real estate sector will be encouraged to boost high-quality development of the sector, Xinhua said.
