According to Caijing News on October 29th (Reporter Wang Haichun), Shanghai's new real estate policies have been in place for a month, and both the new and second-hand housing markets in Shanghai are showing signs of warming up.

Data released by China Index Academy today shows that the transaction area of new commodity residential buildings in Shanghai last week (10.21-10.27) was 0.1998 million square meters, an increase of 57.19% compared to the previous period, setting a new high in transaction volume since the first half of the year.

The weekly transaction volume has set a record for the second half of the year, just a microcosm of the rising heat in the Shanghai real estate market.

Data released by Lianjia in Shanghai today shows that during the full month of the real estate policy implementation in Shanghai (9.29-10.28), the number of new listed houses by Lianjia in Shanghai increased by 24% compared to the previous period, online consultation increased by 39%, new customer volume increased by 40%, the number of showings increased by 25%, and the transaction volume increased by 89%. Compared to the same period last year, the traffic, consultation, new listed houses, and volumes of Lianjia app and Beike increased by about 40%.

In addition, information obtained today from 58 Tongcheng and Anjuke shows that from September 29th to October 28th, Shanghai's new housing transactions totaled 14,137 units, an increase of 28.24% compared to the previous period; second-hand housing transactions totaled 23,234 units, an increase of 44.87%.

The data shows that from August 30th to September 28th, the daily average transaction volume of new and second-hand housing in Shanghai was 367 units and 535 units respectively; while from September 29th to October 28th, the daily average transaction volume of new and second-hand housing in Shanghai was 471 units and 774 units respectively.

Analysts told reporters that from the transaction data, it can be seen that in the month after the introduction of the new real estate policies in Shanghai, there has been a noticeable increase in the daily average transaction volume for both new and second-hand housing.

On September 29, the Shanghai Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission, along with five other departments, jointly issued a notice on optimizing real estate market policy measures, shortening the social security years required for non-Shanghai residents to purchase homes outside the outer ring road from '3 years' to '1 year'; adjusting the personal income tax exemption period for selling residential properties from 5 years to 2 years; in addition, Shanghai will promptly cancel the standards for general residences and non-general residences.

Zhang Bo, Director of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, pointed out that adjusting the income tax exemption period from 5 years to 2 years plays an important role in improving market activity.

"There is a large demand in the market for property upgrades, but the cost for such buyers to change houses is high, especially due to high transaction taxes and fees. This measure can effectively reduce transaction costs, not only beneficial for revitalizing existing markets but also activating new markets significantly," said Zhang Bo.

Li Gen, Senior Manager of the Business Strategy Department at Lianjia in Shanghai, told reporters that after the policies on September 29 in Shanghai, the activity in the second-hand housing market in Shanghai has significantly increased, with many stores seeing a doubling of transaction volume.

"The performance of buyers is particularly worth paying attention to. From what we have observed, the willingness of buyers to enter the market has significantly increased since the new policies were introduced, their market entry enthusiasm has greatly improved, and the decision-making period for buyers has also shortened. On the landlords' side, the number of listings has increased, which may indicate that some landlords have joined the ranks of those exchanging properties, selling their current property and then buying a new one."

Regarding the new housing market, Lu Wenxi, Senior Research Manager at CRIC, believes that after Shanghai announced a series of measures to boost the real estate market, there has been a significant increase in the number of visits to sales offices, which is now translating into actual transactions. From the transaction data, whether it is rigid demand from first-time buyers or improvement-oriented buyers, the recent market entries have been quite active, reflecting a significant policy effect.

"Apart from the rigid demand and improvement-oriented market, high-end projects in Shanghai priced above 0.1 million yuan per square meter have continued to show strong momentum, with the market presenting a scattered pattern of growth. Overall, both the new and second-hand housing markets in Shanghai have maintained a certain level of heat. With just one week left in October, based on the current situation, we believe that this heat will not dissipate rapidly, and the Shanghai market is expected to continue to maintain a high level of activity," Lu Wenxi added.

In fact, not only Shanghai, the four first-tier cities and other hot cities have introduced a package of measures to optimize the real estate market at the end of September, and signs of a rebound in the national market heat have appeared: as we enter October, there has been a noticeable increase in the heat of the national real estate market.

According to data from the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, on the day the new policy was announced on September 29, the online search for new homes in first-tier cities increased by 7% compared to the previous day, while new first-tier cities as a whole increased by 6%, with only a slight increase in second and third/fourth-tier cities.

From the second day of the new policy (September 30) to the present, the daily average search activity for new homes in first-tier cities increased by 15.3% compared to the daily average from September 1 to 29, with Shanghai up by 11%, Beijing by 10%, Guangzhou by 8%, and Shenzhen by 30%. The core second-tier cities saw an increase of 8.9% in daily search activity, with second and third/fourth-tier cities increasing by 2.5% and 4.1% respectively.

Analysts indicate that based on the data changes, the heat in the new housing market began to decline two weeks after the new policy was introduced, gradually returning to the previous level. "Although the heat in the second-hand housing market has slightly decreased, the overall activity continues to be sustained, still higher than the level in September."