FUELED by favorable policies, Shenzhen’s residential real estate market witnessed an uptick in inquiries, viewings, and deals over the National Day holiday. Statistics from the research center of Leyoujia, a Shenzhen-based realty agency and finance service provider, and Centaline Property revealed that 12 out of 100 prospective clients who signed up for viewing a new apartment in Shenzhen in the week after Sept. 30 actually made the decision to buy it, while in September only 2% of the viewing clients took action. On Sept. 29, Shenzhen rolled out a series of policies to boost the stagnant property market, including relaxed purchase bans for both hukou (residency) holders and non-residents, lower taxes and transaction fees, and lower ratios of down payment, with further preferential policies for households with two or more underage children and those who opt to buy properties in more suburban areas. The sales of new apartments surged drastically and outperformed pre-owned housing, according to Leyoujia’s research center. The realtor’s Shenzhen outlets saw more than 600 new apartments sold on Oct. 1 alone, with several affordable projects in Longgang and Guangming districts, and more expensive projects in Longhua and Nanshan districts attracting a large following. Serendipity Mansion, a new housing estate with a garden in Shekou, Nanshan District, was one of the hot-selling properties. The path leading to the gate of the estate was packed with cars on both sides on Oct. 3 afternoon. Each salesperson had to serve several clients simultaneously, while the consultation room where the details of the transaction were being discussed was crowded, the National Business Daily reported. The relaxed purchase ban has attracted many non-residents to buy properties in Shenzhen, particularly in more suburban areas in Bao’an and Longhua districts, where they accounted for 20% of all buyers, as per Leyoujia. The willingness of property developers to lower prices to boost sales accounted for the better performance of new apartments compared with pre-owned housing, according to Centaline Property, whose outlets in the city witnessed a 569% year-on-year increase in new apartment sales between Oct. 1 and 3, and a 233% increase in pre-owned apartment sales in the three days. Zheng Shulun, general manager of the Shenzhen branch of Centaline Property, said the new policies spurred the long-prohibited demand of homebuyers in Shenzhen and turned the National Day holiday into a real “golden week” for realtors. “Doing especially well are those entry-level properties in the suburban areas,” he added. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said Sept. 29 that cities, especially first-tier cities, should modify their policies and relax housing purchase restrictions based on local conditions. The same day, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen all made significant policy changes. Shanghai streamlined its purchase restrictions, notably reducing the threshold and initial payment costs. Among first-tier cities, Guangzhou was the first to completely remove home purchase restrictions. Shenzhen also lifted such restrictions in several areas. Beijing followed suit by introducing measures such as further reducing interest rates on existing housing loans and lowering the minimum down payment for housing loans.(SD News) | 