HONG KONG – China’s latest steps to revive the housing market have had an immediate impact, judging from reports of brisk sales and buyer interest during the nation’s week-long holiday. Whether the rebound will be sustained is another matter.
In cities with residential projects running promotions, visits by prospective homebuyers climbed at least 50 per cent from a year earlier, CCTV news reported, citing the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. About 130 cities across 20 provinces have rolled out various perks to entice buyers.
Beijing city saw expressions of intent to buy new homes double in the first three days of October, the state broadcaster said. In Shenzhen, sales of new homes jumped more than 10 times in the first six days of the month, while used-home transactions more than tripled, Cailian reported, citing Shenzhen Centaline Property figures. Real estate agents in Shanghai rolled out a “no closing hour” policy after visitors increased, while some buyers in Shenzhen even paid deposits for apartments without viewing them in person, according to the Securities Times.
“It seems like the number of visitors to showrooms and transactions in first-tier cities has risen,” Citic Securities analysts wrote in a report on Oct 7. “Price declines in these cities have a chance of stopping this year.”
Days before the National Day celebrations, authorities announced a series of policies to stabilise the real estate sector, including by lowering existing mortgage rates and minimum downpayment requirements for second-home purchases. At the local level, Beijing and Shanghai were among cities that widened eligibility to purchase properties.
Chinese developer shares have soared since the moves were announced, and those traded in Hong Kong continued to rally while the mainland exchanges were closed. A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Chinese real estate stocks has more than doubled since the
