Chinese real estate market regulatory easing

Major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, have been easing home-buying restrictions to stabilize the real estate sector. Beijing recently joined these efforts by implementing new policies effective August 8.

Beijing’s measures include reducing the required period of continuous social insurance or tax contributions for non-local residents to one year for purchases within the Fifth Ring. The city has also increased housing provident fund loan limits, allowing up to 1.2 million yuan for single contributors and 2.4 million yuan for couples. New rules also permit families with multiple children to purchase an additional home and allow the use of provident funds for home renovations or to settle a seller’s existing loans during resales.

Administrative reforms are also being introduced to improve efficiency. In Beijing, the city’s first fully online ‘double advance-to-title’ real estate registration was completed by Minsheng Bank Beijing Branch, allowing buyers to merge property and mortgage registration into a single online process.

In Shanghai, the ‘Eight Measures’ (Hu Ba Tiao) policy has taken effect to stimulate demand. This includes optimizing housing provident fund usage, implementing ‘trade-in’ subsidies, and introducing housing vouchers for resettlement. Key changes in Shanghai allow the housing provident fund to be used for down payments on existing homes, purchasing parking spaces, and paying deed taxes. Furthermore, the minimum down payment for second homes located outside the outer ring road has been reduced from 20% to 15%.