Source: China Brokerage; Author: Zhang Da.
On June 26, the “5.17” new policy was implemented in Beijing, which introduced a series of housing support policies such as down payment and interest rate reduction. How will the new policy affect the Beijing housing market? Reporters from China Brokerage visited the changes in the new and second-hand housing markets in Beijing on the first weekend after the implementation of the new policy. Experts in the industry predict that the number of second-hand residential homes in Beijing may reach 14,500 in June, a new high in 15 months.
On Sunday (June 30th), a reporter from China Brokerage came to a newly opened sales center located outside the west fourth ring road in Fengtai District, Beijing and saw about 10 groups of customers on site. One sales consultant told the reporter that there had been a noticeable increase in customers since the introduction of the new policy on June 26. "We started receiving customers at 10 am on Saturday and we didn't eat our first meal until 6 pm; customers came one after another until it started raining in the evening." The real estate consultant explained that the project opened in early June, with a sales guidance price of 83,000 yuan per square meter and a normal sales price of about 80,000 yuan. However, since it is now a buyer’s market, developers have lowered their initial prices, currently ranging between 75,000 to 78,000 yuan per square meter. If customers have good payment conditions, they can even get a special discounted property and save 100,000 to 200,000 yuan in total compared to the normal price. The developer's main goal was to quickly open up the market in the early stages. "The impact of the new Beijing policy this time is quite significant. We could only sell two or three houses a week before, but we sold six houses in one day on Saturday after the new policy was launched," the consultant said.
According to the sales consultant, the project was opened in early June and the sales guidance price was 72,000 yuan per square meter. It has not yet been officially launched, and the opening price has not been decided yet. However, it will be lower than the sales guidance price. Currently, it is in the stage of attracting customers, and there are many people who come to visit it on site.
On Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, a reporter from China Brokerage came to the marketing center of a certain new residential project located outside the southwest fifth ring road in Fengtai District, Beijing. A front-desk staff member responsible for registration said, "We have already registered about fifty or sixty groups of customers today." A sales consultant in charge of receptions told the reporters that, after the introduction of the new policy on June 26th, the amount of people viewing properties recently has indeed increased, about one-third more than before.
The reporters learned that the project has already obtained a pre-sale license, and the guidance price for sales is 72,000 yuan per square meter. It is not officially launched yet and the opening price has not been set; it will be lower than the guidance price. Currently, it is in the stage of attracting customers, and there are many people who come to visit it on site.
Guo Yi, chief analyst of Heshuo Institution, said in an interview with China Brokerage reporters, "Because the online booking of new properties usually has a long delay effect, the first Saturday after the implementation of the new policy was about three times the number of the previous Saturday. Judging from the characteristics of popular projects, whether they are close to the subway or near schools, they all have their resource advantages. At the same time, the product advantage is enhanced, the yield rate is expanded, and the developers offer good concessions in price; the sales situation is still good. However, some projects in the market have a zero turnover rate, and the overall market differentiation is still obvious."
"After the implementation of the new policy on June 26th, special-price properties have become common in the Beijing new housing market. Some real estate companies have significantly reduced their new listing prices for the completion of their half-yearly performance indicators, especially in the southern cities, where special-price properties have begun to spread from the south fourth ring road." Zhang Dawei, chief analyst of Centaline Property, told China Brokerage reporters, "After the implementation of the new policy on June 26th, policies such as provident funds have targeted new properties (such as buying two-star or higher green buildings to give upper-loans) and the enthusiasm of the market for improved demand has increased. There are signs of a recent recovery in new housing turnover, but because the content of the policy is not beyond expectations, the heat of the new housing market is clearly not as good as that of the second-hand housing market."
As for second-hand properties, a reporter from China Brokerage also went to a real estate agency near the third ring road in Fengtai District, Beijing, where a staff member said that they had been quite busy with many visitors during the weekend after the new policy was introduced, but all the transactions were “trading price for volume”.
The staff of a real estate agency in Dongcheng District, Beijing, near the second ring road, also told reporters from China Brokerage that the Beijing second-hand housing market is currently at a stage of increasing volume while maintaining price stability.
Zhang Dawei told reporters from China Brokerage, "On the first Saturday after the implementation of the "5.17" new policy on June 26th, there were over 900 actual transactions for secondhand houses in Beijing, an increase of 15% from the previous Saturday. As of June 29th, the number of secondhand residential homes in Beijing for June had reached a total of 14,123 homes under contract. Based on the current trend, it is expected that the number of secondhand residential homes under contract for June will reach 14,500, surpassing the 'little yangchun' of March 2024 and reaching a new high in 15 months.
Regarding the significant increase in the volume of second-hand residential property signings in Beijing in June, Zhang Dawei believes that the main reason is the real estate policies jointly issued by multiple ministries on May 17th (referred to as the '5.17' new policies). Although Beijing did not implement the '5.17' new policies until June 26th, the market had anticipated the implementation of policies to reduce down payments and interest rates. Under this circumstance, the volume of second-hand housing transactions in Beijing has remained stable and high, starting from the second half of May. At the same time, the total number of second-hand housing listings has decreased from around 172,000 units at the end of April to approximately 160,000 units now. Prices of second-hand residential properties have also stabilized and begun to rise. The volume of second-hand residential property signings in Beijing in June has reflected the impact of the policies, and it is expected that the volume will remain at a high level of around 14,000 units in July.
Editor/Lambor