Mini Program: Daily Real Estate Industry News Summary.
1. Ministry of Finance: Within the newly issued special bond quota in 2025, local governments can arrange it as needed for land reserves and the acquisition of existing Commodity housing.
On the 10th, Lin Zechang, Director of the Department of Comprehensive Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on "China's Economic High-Quality Development Achievements" that the scope of special bond usage should be expanded to allow for two areas related to Real Estate, both of which are policies to increase effective demand. Within the newly issued special bond quota in 2025, local governments can arrange it as needed for land reserves and the acquisition of existing Commodity housing. These two policies will be gradually released in 2025. (Xinhua Finance)
2. Cinda Real Estate: Jointly initiated the establishment of a 20 billion yuan Real Estate industry stock asset relief and revitalization fund.
Cinda Real Estate announced that the company, along with CHINA CINDA and Xinshengli, jointly initiated the establishment of a Fund for revitalizing and alleviating the burden of existing assets in the Real Estate Industry. The total scale of the parent fund is 20.001 billion yuan, of which the company contributes 10 billion yuan as a subordinate limited partner, primarily investing in alleviating the burden of problematic companies in the Real Estate Industry, revitalizing problematic projects, participating in bankruptcy reorganization, court auctions, and other special opportunity investments, supporting project delivery and the three major Engineering & Construction activities.
3. "9.9 down payment to buy a house, annual mortgage of 0.035 million yuan"
Recently, a certain project in Zhongshan launched the "9.9 buy a house" campaign, which has gone viral on some social media platforms. "This event is expected to last until the end of this year, with a down payment of 9.9 yuan. The project will be delivered with fine decoration, and the house will be delivered before the end of this year, with a monthly payment of approximately 2,944 yuan for a three-bedroom unit and approximately 3,782 yuan for a four-bedroom unit," local real estate agent Xie Ping told reporters. The transaction volume in Zhongshan's real estate market has been at a historical low over the past year, and new house prices have stabilized at around 0.013 million yuan/square meter. The main buyers have shifted from past investors and first-time buyers to mainly local first-time buyers. (Everyday Economics)
4. In 2024, the vacancy rate of office buildings in Peking decreased to 21%. It is expected that there will be over 800,000 square meters of new supply in the retail property market in 2025.
The "2024 Peking Real Estate Market Review and 2025 Outlook" released by CBRE Group shows that the transactions for relocations in the Peking office market continued to increase in 2024, with the city's vacancy rate decreasing by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year to 21.0% by year-end. Sun Zutian, head of the North China research department of CBRE Group and a senior Director, indicated that the Peking retail property market is expected to see an additional supply of over 800,000 square meters in 2025, providing a more abundant and higher quality consumer choice for local clientele.
In Shanghai, 5,711 new high-end residences were sold in 2024, marking an increase of 85.8% year-on-year.
According to data released by Jones Lang LaSalle, the sales volume of new residences in Shanghai increased by 13.9% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024. Due to the impact of a contraction in new supply, the total annual transaction volume for new residences in Shanghai was recorded at 7.12 million square meters, a decline of 22.8% year-on-year. With continuous release of demand for improvement, the sales of new high-end residences in Shanghai reached 1,937 units in the fourth quarter of 2024; a total of 5,711 high-end residences were sold throughout the year, an increase of 85.8% compared to 2023.
In 2024, the sales volume of residential properties in Hong Kong reached a nearly three-year high, driven by strong demand from "new ****s".
Recently, the Land Registry of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government released a report indicating that the total number of property sales and purchase agreements (including residential properties, parking spaces, and commercial properties) registered in Hong Kong for the entire year of 2024 reached 67,979, an increase of 17.1% year-on-year, marking a nearly three-year high. Among this, the total number of residential property transactions in Hong Kong for 2024 was 53,099, also a new high in nearly three years. Analysts pointed out that the 2024 Hong Kong property market mainly benefited from the SAR government's comprehensive "withdrawal of measures" (cancellation of residential property demand management measures) and relaxation of mortgage loan policies, among other bullish factors. Chen Yongjie, Vice Chairman of Centaline Property Asia Pacific and President of the Residential Division, stated that the full withdrawal of cooling measures by the Hong Kong SAR government in late February last year, along with property prices dropping by over 20% from their highs and a series of policies aimed at attracting talent and optimizing immigration, further improved the willingness of mainland buyers to invest in Hong Kong properties. Chen believes that as the USA continues to lower interest rates and the strong growth in property demand from "new ****s," the Hong Kong property market will stabilize and improve this year. (The Paper)
Fujian: Promote the commencement and pre-sale of real estate projects, encouraging continuous work during the Spring Festival with minimal stoppages and early resumption of work.
On January 8, the Fujian Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a notice regarding the implementation of several measures to promote a good start for the real estate market in the first quarter of 2025. The notice outlines three main directions: optimizing market supply, promoting sales of commercial housing, and enhancing service guarantees. The notice proposes optimizing housing supply, prioritizing the launch of residential land with convenient transportation and mature education and medical facilities, as well as high-quality improvement-type residential land designed for larger units and ecological standards in the first quarter. To promote the commencement and pre-sale of projects, construction arrangements for ongoing real estate projects will be optimized, and encouragement will be given to avoid stoppages or minimize stoppage during the Spring Festival, along with an early resumption of work. Unstarted projects will be continuously reviewed to accelerate preliminary work for those included in the 2025 construction plan; projects planned for commencement in the first half of the year should aim to begin construction in the first quarter. Approvals for the pre-sale of ongoing projects will be expedited, and project certifications for sales will be accelerated. Efforts will continue to expand and enhance the effectiveness of the real estate "white list." Furthermore, financing needs for ongoing projects will be thoroughly reviewed, ensuring that those meeting the white list conditions will be processed, and efforts will be made to secure credit issuance in the first quarter to promote project investment and construction.
In Puyang, 20 measures were introduced to support the exchange of old for new in commodity housing, aimed at stabilizing and preventing further decline in the real estate market.
On January 10, Puyang City, Henan Province, released "Several Measures to Optimize the Stable and Healthy Development of the Real Estate Market," aimed at promoting market stabilization through 20 specific measures. The measures introduced by Puyang City cover four aspects: supporting housing consumption, increasing financial support, improving supply quality, and strengthening supervision and monitoring. Among them, measures such as supporting the "old-for-new" housing exchange, encouraging real estate companies to carry out diverse promotional activities, offering price discounts for group purchases of new residential properties by newcomers, encouraging farmers to buy houses in cities, implementing monetized and housing ticket placement methods, and purchasing commercial housing to reduce inventory are particularly noteworthy. These initiatives will help boost market confidence and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.
Fujian encourages ongoing construction of real estate projects during the Spring Festival, minimizing downtime and resuming work early.
On January 9, the Fujian Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a notice on the implementation of "Several Measures to Promote a Good Start for the Real Estate Market Development in the First Quarter of 2025." The notice states that localities should comprehensively consider regional functional positioning, market demand, existing housing and land resources, as well as municipal and public service facilities, to formulate and publish housing development plans for 2025, coordinating these plans with the annual state-owned construction land supply plan, insisting on supply driven by demand, and properly supplying residential land by region. In the first quarter, priority will be given to residential land with convenient transportation and mature educational and medical facilities, as well as high-quality improvement residential land with larger units and green ecology. Optimize the construction scheduling of ongoing real estate projects, encouraging ongoing work during the Spring Festival, minimizing downtime, and resuming work early. Continue to sort through projects that have not yet started, accelerating preliminary work for those included in the 2025 commencement plan; for projects planned to start in the first half of the year, efforts will be made to commence construction in the first quarter. Advance pre-sale approvals for ongoing projects and accelerate project certification for sales.
The "Housing Resource Supermarket" mini-program in Langfang has launched 322 property projects, with 26,429 available units for sale.
Recently, Langfang City pioneered the development of the "Housing Resource Supermarket" mini-program in the province, officially launching it during the 2024 Langfang Economic and Trade Fair. Currently, the "Housing Resource Supermarket" mini-program features 322 property projects in Langfang City, including 150 for sale and 172 under construction; totaling 1,565 residential buildings with 26,429 available units. The "Housing Resource Supermarket" is categorized by geographical location into various sectors such as "Langfang Main Urban Area, Peripheral Administrative Center, Along Daxing Airport, and Around Xiong'an New Area," and includes new real estate developments that are being constructed or for sale throughout the city. Homebuyers can filter options based on project name, location, price, opening date, and other information, and can check the real-time status of each unit, as well as detailed information about surrounding facilities and renderings, significantly improving selection efficiency. "The 'Housing Resource Supermarket' implements an online service throughout the entire process from viewing, selecting, reserving, down payment, online signing, to registration, playing an active role in reducing the burden on enterprises, facilitating the public, and regulating management," explained Wang Shaofeng, Director of the Langfang Housing Transaction and Property Service Center. "The 'Housing Resource Supermarket' achieves transparent management of online property display and trading services, effectively preventing market disruptions such as withholding properties, false listings, misleading promotions, multiple sales of a single property, and private transactions, regulating behaviors of departments, companies, and homebuyers, and promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the real estate market.
Jones Lang LaSalle: Shanghai's high-end residential transaction volume is expected to grow by 85.8% year-on-year in 2024.
On January 9, the latest data from Jones Lang LaSalle indicated that the transaction volume of the first-hand high-end residential market in Shanghai is expected to grow 85.8% year-on-year in 2024, reaching 5,711 units. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the transaction volume of first-hand housing in Shanghai grew by 13.9% year-on-year, but the annual transaction volume decreased by 22.8% to 7.12 million square meters, mainly due to reduced new supply. However, the continued release of demand for improved housing has driven significant growth in the high-end residential market, with 1,937 units transacted in the fourth quarter of 2024 and a total annual transaction volume of 5,711 units, an increase of 85.8% compared to the entirety of 2023.
