Reporter Zhang Xiangyi
Recently, the Nanjing Housing Security and Real Estate Bureau and other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Implementing the "Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System" (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Opinions"), clarifying nine aspects of measures including pre-sale management, existing home sales, project company system, and sponsoring bank system to improve the commercial housing sales system.
The reporter found that since the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other three departments issued the "Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), 19 cities across the country have introduced relevant implementation policies, including first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, second-tier cities such as Nanjing and Chengdu, and third- and fourth-tier cities such as Shiyan and Jinhua.
"Judging from the local rules that have been issued, various regions use August 28 as an important node to make clear regulations on the pre-sale and current sale conditions of newly announced land parcels, transition arrangements for projects in progress, pre-sale fund supervision, land transfer price payment and mortgage loan issuance, etc. Some cities have also proposed phased development , installment acceptance and letter of guarantee replacement and other supporting measures." Cao Jingjing, general manager of the Index Research Department of the China Index Research Institute, told a reporter from Securities Daily that the current local implementation standards are gradually becoming clearer, and the overall policy frameworks in various places are "similar with minor differences", and clear and detailed specifications have been made based on local realities.
Improve the system according to local conditions
The "Implementation Opinions" issued by Nanjing not only implements the "Notice", but also puts forward unique practices based on local reality. For example, in terms of actively promoting the sales of existing commercial housing, the "Implementation Opinions" propose that for qualified commercial housing projects, if the mortgage rights are not released before the sale, the real estate development company, the original mortgage bank and the home purchaser can apply for sales with mortgage, and the existing housing sales funds will be deposited into the commercial housing sales fund supervision account.
"The current sales system reform has basically completed the 'prescribed actions', and the institutional framework for raising the pre-sale threshold and prioritizing existing home sales has been initially established." Yan Yuejin, deputy director of Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute, said in an interview with a reporter from Securities Daily that overall, the detailed rules issued by various places mainly include raising pre-sale standards, prioritizing or encouraging existing home sales, and providing financial, land and other support in the process. There are certain differences across regions in terms of supporting supporting policies, but the policy logic is similar and focuses mainly on reducing the burden on enterprises.
For example, Xi'an, Suzhou, Wuhan and other cities have mentioned letter of guarantee replacement in local rules to increase financing support.
The "Implementation Opinions on the Implementation of the Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System" issued by the Xi'an Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments on October 30 proposed that commercial banks and real estate development companies are encouraged to carry out pre-sale regulatory fund guarantee replacement based on the actual project conditions on the premise of strictly implementing closed fund management and ensuring project delivery on time. The guarantee replacement funds must be used for project construction.
There are also cities that start from the sales side and provide support for the sales of existing homes. For example, the "Implementation Opinions on Implementing the Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System" issued by the Jinan Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau and other departments on October 30 clearly stated that the housing provident fund should increase the support for the sales of existing homes. For those who purchase existing housing sales projects, the number of housing units can be reduced accordingly. At the same time, for the purchase of existing house sales projects, the loan limit increase policy can be combined with the loan limit increase policy for high-quality housing, families with multiple children, and high-level talents. The maximum loan limit for an employee family with one person paying housing provident fund is 1.7 million yuan, and the maximum loan limit for an employee family with two or more people paying housing provident fund is 2.4 million yuan.
Policy influence is gradually transmitted
As supporting details are gradually introduced in various places, the reform of the commercial housing sales system is gradually entering the implementation stage. At present, the market effects of relevant policies are gradually being transmitted.
From the perspective of the land market, data from the China Index Research Institute shows that in October, residential land transactions in 300 cities (sample cities selected by the China Index Research Institute, covering all cities at prefecture level and above) had a planned construction area of 110 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 91.8%; the transfer fee was 375.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 89.0%. Judging from the transaction structure, residential land transactions in 300 cities in October were mainly in third- and fourth-tier cities, with planned construction area and transfer fee accounting for 86% and 73% respectively. In addition, the average premium rate in 300 cities was 1.49%, a decrease of 5.29 percentage points from September. Low-price transactions are still the mainstream in the market.
Cao Jingjing analyzed that the impact of policies such as improving the commercial housing sales system on the land market is still in the early stages of transmission. The intensive implementation of local detailed rules has further clarified the policy application boundaries for new and old projects. Supporting arrangements such as installment payment of land prices can help alleviate some of the financial pressure, but it is difficult to completely offset the impact of capital occupation caused by the lengthened development cycle.
Looking forward to the end of the year, Cao Jingjing predicts that land supply and transactions in key cities will still be of a certain scale. Real estate companies are expected to continue to be cautious in acquiring land, and investment will further concentrate on high-quality land parcels in core cities. The subsequent land market trend will depend on the sustainability of the stabilization of housing sales, the improvement of corporate financing, and the actual impact of the implementation of detailed rules for improving the housing sales system in various places.
“One of the important measures to promote the implementation of the existing home sales system in the future is land supply.” Yan Yuejin believes that all localities must first implement the corresponding policies of the housing sales system on the land side, select high-quality plots in the land supply link, and promote the sales of existing homes. At the same time, the focus of subsequent policies should shift from sales-side control to land supply-side cost reduction and other content.
