Promote the real estate market to stop falling and stabilize

Recently, the policy signals to promote the stabilization and recovery of the real estate market are clear and explicit. A package of incremental policies is being accelerated, and various regions are actively taking action to implement and strengthen their collective efforts. Experts have indicated that with the continuous and increasing efforts on both the supply and demand sides, the expectations for the real estate market are gradually improving. The effects of a series of policy measures are expected to become more apparent, and the rigid and diverse improved housing needs in various regions will be better met. It is anticipated that subsequent market-stabilizing measures to improve the supply-demand relationship will continue to be a significant focus.

Comprehensive efforts to stabilize demand are being made, including reducing the interest rates on existing mortgages, optimizing the minimum down payment ratios for personal housing loans, and lifting or easing restrictive housing measures. In recent times, policy optimizations targeting the demand side of the real estate market have noticeably accelerated and intensified. Experts suggest that the concentrated implementation of supportive policies on the demand side can help guide the accelerated release of residents' housing purchase demands, thereby promoting the market's stabilization and recovery.

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In terms of mortgage interest rates, data from the central bank shows that in September, the interest rate on newly issued personal housing loans was 3.32%, which is about 2 basis points lower than the previous month and about 78 basis points lower than the same period last year, both at historical lows.

Currently, banks are actively implementing the reduction of interest rates on existing mortgages and will uniformly carry out batch adjustments before the end of October. It is estimated that this reduction in interest rates on existing mortgages will benefit 50 million households and a population of 150 million, reducing household interest expenses by approximately 150 billion yuan per year on average.

"The reduction in interest rates on existing mortgages can alleviate the interest payment pressure on families purchasing homes with loans while also reducing the willingness of borrowers to repay early," said Wang Qing, Chief Macro Analyst at Orient Gold Honesty. This policy sends a positive signal for stabilizing the real estate market and helps promote the market's stabilization and recovery.

Supporting the satisfaction of residents' diverse housing needs and reducing the cost of purchasing a home are also important aspects of the demand-side efforts. The Ministry of Finance's previous policy of a phased individual income tax refund for "selling old and buying new" housing swaps has played a significant role in reducing the housing purchase burden on residents and increasing housing demand.

Recently, Deputy Minister of Finance Liao Min stated that relevant tax policies will be optimized and improved in a timely manner. In accordance with the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee, the Ministry of Finance is urgently studying and clarifying value-added tax and land value-added tax policies that are connected with the cancellation of standards for ordinary and non-ordinary residences.

"There is still room for optimization in tax policies to support the real estate sector," said Chen Wenjing, Director of Policy Research at the China Index Academy.

Utilizing policy tools to digest the existing housing stock is crucial.On the supply side of the real estate market, policy measures focusing on the destock of existing commercial housing and the supply of affordable housing are being rolled out at an accelerated pace. The central bank recently proposed optimizing the re-lending for affordable housing; the Ministry of Finance clarified that special bonds can be used for land reserves and that special bonds can be used to purchase existing commercial housing to be used as affordable housing in various regions. "In the past three years, the central government has allocated 212.4 billion yuan in subsidies for affordable housing projects and 280 billion yuan in central budgetary investment, and coordinated with local government special bonds, etc., to support the construction of 6.66 million units of affordable housing to meet the basic housing needs of low and middle-income urban groups, new citizens, and young people," said Liao Min.

Chen Wenjing stated that the Ministry of Finance has clarified that local government special bonds can be used to purchase existing commercial housing, and pointed out that the subsidies for affordable housing projects will focus more on supporting the destock of existing commercial housing, which means more funds will enter the real estate market, and it is expected to increase the destock efforts of existing commercial housing that has been built but not yet sold.

In addition, the central bank governor Pan Gongsheng recently revealed that on the basis of using some local government special bonds for land reserves, research is being conducted to allow policy banks and commercial banks to provide loans to support qualified enterprises to marketably acquire real estate land, to revitalize the existing land use, and to alleviate the financial pressure on real estate companies. "When necessary, the People's Bank can also provide re-lending support. We are still studying this policy with the Financial Regulatory Authority," he said.

In the view of Zhang Jun, the chief economist of Galaxy Securities, in supporting the construction of new urbanization, urban renewal, and the renovation of underground pipe networks, the future broad fiscal policy is expected to intensify, and the trend of policy-based developmental financial instruments can be followed.

Accelerating the Formation of Policy Synergy

Localities have recently been actively introducing relevant policy measures, starting from both the supply and demand sides to further activate the real estate market and accelerate the construction of a new model of real estate development.

Guangdong Province proposed to solidly promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market, implement a series of central policies, and further activate the real estate market from both ends according to the requirements of strictly controlling the increase, optimizing the stock, and improving the quality, to promote the market to stop falling and stabilize. Tianjin announced the comprehensive cancellation of housing purchase restrictions, which will be implemented from October 16. Chengdu canceled the resale restrictions on newly purchased housing, and the property can be traded on the market immediately after obtaining the certificate. Hangzhou no longer sets price limits for newly transferred residential land for the construction of commercial housing.

Promoting the stable development of real estate is a systematic project that requires the joint efforts of various policies. Liao Min said that in the implementation of policies, the coordination of fiscal policy with other policies will continue to be strengthened, the linkage between the central and local governments will be enhanced, and the connection between new and old policies will be strengthened to play a combination of punches and unswervingly promote the real estate market to stop falling and stabilize.

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