China's four major cities have all eased housing purchase restrictions in recent months, signaling a shift toward more supportive policies and underscoring efforts to stabilize the property sector, said industry experts.
Beijing is the latest major city to ease housing purchase restrictions. On Friday night, the capital city announced measures to better meet housing needs, including cutting the required social security or tax payment period for non-Beijing residents buying homes within the Fifth Ring Road from two years to one, and raising the housing provident fund loan limit.
"As a city long known for strict homebuying restrictions, Beijing's move to lower the threshold for nonlocal buyers without a Beijing hukou (household registration) could mark the beginning of a broader recovery in China's property market," said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at Centaline Property Agency, after digesting the policies taking effect immediately on Saturday.
Beijing's move means all four of China's first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou — have now eased homebuying restrictions in line with local conditions, paving the way for a more relaxed housing market in the country's biggest cities, Zhang added.
