China’s Tier-One Cities Housing Authorities Pledge Support To The Sector
Housing authorities in China’s tier-one cities pledged support for a recovery in the housing market, reflecting Beijing’s intent to further ease property measures and sending shares of developers surging on Monday. Over the weekend, official statements from top tier cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou vowed support for the struggling property market. The Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in Beijing and Shenzhen separately posted statements on their WeChat official accounts on Saturday and Sunday, saying they would “satisfy the rigid demand and improvement demand for housing” and “facilitate a stabilised and healthy development” of the city’s housing markets. Local newspaper reports said the Guangzhou Municipal Commission of Housing will soon roll out loosening measures to further support housing demand and support the development of the city’s property market. The moves from the cities, which have tightened the property sector the most, came after Ni Hong, China’s Minister of Housing and Urban-rural Development, said in a meeting with representatives of developers on Thursday that more easing measures for the property sector would be implemented, including lowering mortgage rates and cutting down-payment ratios. It follows a pledge made by the Politburo, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, in a meeting held last Monday to adjust and optimise property policies in a timely manner to engineer a gradual recovery of the industry through 2025. The slogan of “housing is for living, not for speculation” was excluded from the official announcement for the first time in five years, fuelling speculation that China will ease the restrictive property measures in tier-one and tier-two cities. “Policymakers in Beijing are getting increasingly worried about growth and have clearly recognised the need to bolster the faltering property sector. They are starting a new round property easing, and may introduce some stimulus to redevelop old districts of big cities,” said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura in a note. “However, so far the steps are timid, and road map is still not quite clear. While the recent moves of Beijing should be encouraged, markets need to curb their enthusiasm regarding the scale and impact of these easing measures,” Lu added. Property stocks cheered the news with nine out of 10 members of the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index advancing as the gauge rose 2.5 per cent on Monday, adding to last week’s 15.4 per cent surge.
Tags : housing authorities China housing market Beijing property measures Guangzhou Municipal Commission of Housing development city property