Source: Securities Times

Since last year, property market policies have been loosened one after another in many places, and the Shenzhen market is no different. However, on April 24, there was a market rumor that after “May 1st,” Shenzhen will abolish the purchase restriction policy for regions other than Futian and Nanshan, and at the same time abolish the 5-year value-added tax, which will be free after 3 years.

In response, the reporter called the Shenzhen Government Affairs Service Hotline and the Shenzhen Real Estate Registration Center. Relevant staff responded that no relevant policy notices have been received so far. Up to now, the latest purchase restrictions related to the Shenzhen property market refer to the “Notice on Optimizing the Housing Purchase Restriction Policy” issued by the Shenzhen Housing and Construction Bureau in February.

In February of this year, the Housing and Construction Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality issued the “Notice on Optimizing the Housing Purchase Restriction Policy”, which clearly states that households with domicile registration in Shenzhen (including families where some family members are registered residents of Shenzhen) are limited to purchasing 2 housing units, and single adults with domicile registration in Shenzhen (including divorces) are limited to purchasing 1 housing unit. There are no restrictions on the length of settlement and payment of personal income tax and social insurance for registered residents. For families and single adults (including divorces) who are not registered residents of Shenzhen, the personal income tax and social insurance period requirements were adjusted from 5 years to 3 years. According to reports, this is the first time that the housing purchase restriction policy in Shenzhen has been relaxed since the Shenzhen Housing and Construction Bureau issued the “New Eight Rules” policy to regulate the property market in July 2020.

Since last year, the Shenzhen property market has been slowly bottoming out. According to monitoring data from the Shenzhen Central Plains Research Center, in 2023, a total of 3,621 new housing units were sold in Shenzhen, with a total area of 3.24,000 square meters, all at a low point in the past 5 years; 32,768 second-hand housing units were sold in Shenzhen, an increase of 51.0% over the previous year, but the large increase was mainly due to the low 2022 base.

In March of this year, there was a “Xiaoyangchun” in Shenzhen property transactions. According to statistics from the Shenzhen Real Estate Agents Association, in March, Shenzhen recorded 5196 second-hand housing units, an increase of 116.6% over the previous year, and an increase of 5.1% over the previous year. It has already risen above the standard of 5,000 units in the industry.

However, according to online registration data released by the Shenzhen Central Plains Research Center, a total of 576 new housing units were sold in Shenzhen last week, down 10% from the previous month. Last week, the volume of new and second-hand housing sales in Shenzhen declined, and the number of visitors to new homes declined. The supply of new homes declined significantly in April. Coupled with policy expectations falling short, the popularity of the market declined.

Up to now, the four major first-tier cities of “Northbound Guangshen” have all relaxed their residential purchase restrictions. The China Index Research Institute predicts that from a policy perspective, the central government and regulatory authorities have made it clear that they want to further optimize real estate policies. It is expected that both supply and demand policies in various regions have strong optimization expectations. It is expected that first-tier cities may continue to optimize purchase restriction policies, second-tier cities are expected to completely abolish restrictive policies, and that there is still room for policies such as reducing down payment ratios, lowering mortgage interest rates, and lowering transaction taxes and fees.

According to Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Housing Policy Research Center of the Guangdong Urban Planning Institute, hot cities continue to bail out on the demand side, including loosening purchase restrictions and lowering mortgage interest rates. The first is to speed up the new and second-hand housing cycle to meet the needs of new citizens who just need to get on the car and improve housing, and stop falling housing prices; the second is to increase the commencement and construction of affordable housing for sale to tap the potential housing needs of new citizens, young people, wage groups and talents; third, state-owned enterprises, central enterprises and urban investment will play a leading role in accelerating the transformation of urban villages. Relevant special loans, special bonds, etc. will increase investment in the three major projects and stabilize investment in development; 4 is to speed up the prevention and stability of corporate risks If a healthy company goes into insurance, it is possible that supporting capital will enter the market.

editor/tolk