Several Chinese cities ease housing curbs to stimulate growth
China’s economic growth slowed to its weakest pace in 27 years in the third quarter.
Semi-government think tank China Finance 40 Forum (CF40) suggested that the government should cut interest rates and loosen housing curbs to stimulate the economy.
In fact, Tianjin, Nanjing and several other cities across the nation have already eased restrictions on the housing sector.
The Tianjin municipal government announced last week that those who work in the Binhai science park and Baodi science city will be allowed to buy one apartment each even if they don’t fulfill local social security or individual income tax contribution requirements. However, they are not allowed to resell those flats within three years.
Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province, has unveiled similar measures. College graduates with local residence permits are allowed to buy a flat in Liuhe District, the city’s tech zone.
Both Tianjin and Nanjing have only relaxed home purchase restrictions in specific areas.
Sanya city in southern China's Hainan province has taken a more dramatic shift. College graduates who have worked in Sanya for at least 12 months and paid social security and individual income taxes for 12 months are allowed to buy one apartment anywhere in the province.
In April last year, Hainan imposed stringent home purchase restrictions. Non-locals must have paid at least two years of individual income tax or five years of social security contributions before they could buy an apartment in the province. They also need to pay at least 70 percent of the home price as down payment and hold the flat for at least five years before reselling.
The housing curbs made an immediate impact. Hainan saw housing sales area, value and property development investment slump by 57 percent, 55 percent and 31 percent respectively in the first half of 2019 from the same period last year.
Falling home sales and investments have weighed on construction, furniture, logistics, home appliances and other sectors. Economic growth in the province slowed to 5.3 percent during the period.
So Sanya’s move to ease its home policy can be seen as a fine-tuning of its previous tightening move in order to balance the pressure to suppress speculation and the need to keep its economy humming.
This article appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on Oct 23
Translation by Julie Zhu
– Contact us at [email protected]
RT/CG
-
Four recommendations for I&T development in Hong Kong Dr. Winnie Tang
As the Central Government has clearly shown its support to Hong Kong to develop as an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre, we should seize this golden opportunity. I would like to
-
For HK to improve its deteriorating image, starting point is HK Frank Ching
Less than a month after assuming office, Chief Executive John Lee faces a major stumbling block in his much ballyhooed campaign to promote Hong Kong in the international community by “telling a good
-
Who is not on the Bauhinia award list? Ben Kwok
A record number of people made to the Bauhinia Honours List of public service this year. A total of 493 people were honoured as members of the community and public servants who have made significant
-
Towards a bold yet measured reopening of Hong Kong Brian YS Wong
Hong Kong must reopen, promptly. Hong Kongers know this. Tell this to the thousands stranded abroad, keenly awaiting the next flight – and hotel slots – back to their hometown. Tell this to the many
-
Cutting data’s carbon footprint for a more sustainable Hong Kong Sanjay Rohatgi
The creation, processing, and management of data have forever changed the world. Consider the fact that the amount of data generated each year worldwide is expected to grow to 175 zettabytes (ZB) by
