1. Chongqing's provident fund introduces new policies: optimizing "commercial to public" conversions, allowing withdrawals for down payments on homes, and extending loan terms.

On November 28, the Chongqing Housing Provident Fund Management Center released a notice titled "Notice on Optimizing and Adjusting Housing Provident Fund Usage Policies." The notice states that for families who have paid off their first provident fund loan and have no housing in the area where they plan to purchase, they can apply for a new provident fund loan under the first home standard. Families using the provident fund for a new home purchase can apply to withdraw funds for the down payment within one year from the date of purchase. Families who have paid off their first provident fund loan can apply to replace their existing commercial loan with a provident fund loan at the first home interest rate. The loan expiration age for men is extended to 68, for women to 63, or up to 5 years after the legal retirement age of the contributor, with a maximum loan term of 30 years.

2. Guangzhou's first batch, Huadu District issues "property ownership certificate upon purchase".

Recently, the Huadu District Real Estate Registration Center, in conjunction with the district tax authorities, held an event titled "Property Transfer upon Purchase and Certificate Issuance." Eleven buyers seamlessly completed the purchases, property transfers, and certificate collections at the Yian·Lidu Mansion site. This is one of the first property ownership certificates issued through on-site service since Guangzhou implemented the policy.

3. Provident fund loan interest rates may be adjusted, experts suggest a further reduction of 80 basis points.

As we approach 2025, this means some outstanding provident fund loan interest rates will be adjusted. This is in light of the People's Bank of China’s notification in May, which lowered the interest rate for first-time personal housing loans over five years from 3.1% to 2.85%. Reporters have noted that this year, commercial banks' mortgage rates have decreased significantly, leading to a situation where provident fund loan rates fell below commercial loan rates. Industry insiders suggest that the provident fund loan rates should be adjusted quickly to better utilize the inclusive nature of these loans. Ren Tao, a senior researcher at the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, pointed out that the rates should at least be reduced by another 80 basis points. (China Business Weekly)

4. Guangzhou Financial City Yuan Village Linen Factory Plot 720 and 721 listed for sale, with a total starting price of approximately 7.021 billion yuan.

The Guangzhou Financial City Yuan Village Linen Factory land plots (720 and 721) have been officially announced for sale. Plot 720 has a usable construction land area of 13,977.12 square meters, a total building area of 53,113.1 square meters, a floor area ratio of 3.8, and a starting price of 2,693.93 million yuan, with a starting floor price of approximately 50,700 yuan per square meter. Plot 721 has a usable construction land area of 27,306.54 square meters, a total building area of 84,650.3 square meters, a floor area ratio of 3.1, and a starting price of 4,327.92 million yuan, with a starting floor price of approximately 51,100 yuan per square meter. The total sale price for the two plots is approximately 7.021 billion yuan, with expected official auction time at the end of December. (Guangzhou Daily)

5. Peking issued the sixth round list of proposed residential land supply this year, with starting prices for the two Haidian Zhu Fang projects exceeding 7 billion.

The Beijing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Committee's website released the list for the sixth round of proposed supply of commercial residential land for 2024 on November 28, involving a total of 6 plots covering approximately 26 hectares, with a construction scale of about 0.6 million square meters. These projects are scheduled to be supplied before mid-December 2024. The plots launched this round are centered around subway stations and continue to increase land supply in areas with prominent market demand and good infrastructure and public services, including 4 plots located in the central city area, with 2 in Haidian District, and 1 each in Fengtai District and Shijingshan District; and 2 plots located in multifocal areas in Daxing District and the Economic and Technological Development Zone. The most watched projects among these are the two Haidian Zhu Fang projects, which released their transfer announcements on the same day the list was published. The total land area is approximately 8.2 hectares, with a construction scale of about 0.2 million square meters, designated for second-class residential land use, with starting prices of 7.8 billion yuan and 7.23 billion yuan respectively.

6. Shanghai Securities News: Improve the long-term mechanism of "able to lend" and "willing to lend", and implement multiple measures to realize a positive cycle between real estate and finance.

The coordination mechanism for urban real estate financing has been established for nearly a year. The Financial Regulatory Bureau has guided banks to further increase efforts to implement the loan disbursement progress for each project based on the existing work team mechanism, promoting that projects on the "white list" should be fully funded. It is understood that relevant departments and commercial banks in various regions have established a replicable promotional experience for the crediting of projects on the "white list", among which the most critical aspect is to encourage commercial banks to continuously improve the long-term mechanisms of "able to lend" and "willing to lend", ensuring the safety of new loans while enhancing the ability to repay existing debt, thereby achieving a positive cycle between real estate and finance.

7. Sichuan Guangyuan Cangxi increases the limit for housing provident fund loans, raising the limit to 1.2 million yuan for dual-income households.

On November 29, Cangxi County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province announced six measures to further promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market, effective from December 1, 2024. Among these measures, increasing financial support is key, specifically manifested in the increase of the limit for housing provident fund loans. For dual-income households, the loan limit will be raised to 1.2 million yuan; for single-income households, the limit will increase to 1 million yuan. Additionally, for families with two or three children, the policy specifically stipulates an increase of 0.1 million and 20,000 yuan on top of the maximum limits, respectively, to better meet the housing needs of larger families.

8. Guangdong Yangjiang introduces new measures to promote the real estate market, supporting the online signing and filing of 'work-offset housing'.

On November 28, Yangjiang City in Guangdong Province released several measures aimed at promoting high-quality development of the real estate market, focusing on supporting the online signing and filing of 'work-offset housing'. According to the 'measures', for projects that have obtained the 'Commercial Housing Pre-Sale License', developers can directly record related housing resources to various participating units based on the 'work-offset housing' contracts or agreements signed with construction companies, material suppliers, and other various participants. The implementation of this policy will help simplify the trading process of 'work-offset housing' and enhance the efficiency of the real estate market. Furthermore, the 'measures' require addressing real estate projects that cannot be certified due to issues like tax and government fee delinquency, in accordance with national documents, implementing 'separation of certificates and payments' based on the principle that 'no fault of the public leads to certification', allowing for early registration and certification for homebuyers while relevant departments simultaneously pursue the outstanding payments in accordance with procedures. This will help resolve the historical issue of 'difficult property registration' and allow the public to see changes, achieve results, and benefit.

9. The real estate and home promotion event in liaoning province has concluded, selling 2,600 new commodity residences over the span of 15 days.

On November 28, the "11·11 Liaoning Province Real Estate and Home Promotion Event" jointly organized by the provincial housing and urban-rural development department and the provincial commerce department successfully concluded. This event lasted for 15 days, with a total of 353 new commodity residential projects participating across the province, selling a total of 2,600 new commodity residences, with a total sales area reaching 0.2992 million square meters, and total sales amounting to 2.915 billion yuan.

10. The existing home sales index in the usa rose to 77.4, reaching a seven-month high, driven by a brief drop in mortgage rates.

Due to a brief decline in mortgage rates attracting homebuyers, the index for existing home sales contracts in the usa unexpectedly rose to a seven-month high in October. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the existing home sales index in the usa increased by 2% month-on-month in October, down from an expected decrease of 2%, while the previous value was revised from a 7.4% increase to a 7.5% increase. Homebuyers, who were hindered by rising financing costs, got a brief respite at the end of summer when mortgage rates hit a two-year low. This sparked a wave of home buying that continued into October, even though rates began to rise again.

11. Behind the influx of hedge funds into japanese companies is the 165 billion dollar undervalued real estate value.

Global hedge funds and private equity firms are flocking to japanese companies in hopes of unlocking up to 25 trillion yen (165 billion dollars) in undervalued real estate value. American firm Elliott Investment Management announced it holds a 5.03% stake in Tokyo Gas, with reports estimating the real estate portfolio of the latter to be worth approximately 1.5 trillion yen — almost equivalent to the entire market cap of the utility company. Investors who maintain that japanese companies are undervalued are increasingly focusing on this strategy. It is the driving force behind the 4 billion dollar fujifilm holdings corporation unsponsored adr acquisition case, as well as the private equity dealings including investors like Elliott, Palliser Capital, and 3D Investment Partners.