Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 16th Question: The real estate market became more active in February, and housing demand was further released
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Youling and Zheng Juntian
On the 16th, the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that in February this year, the sales prices of commercial housing in 70 large and medium-sized cities continued to increase. Experts said that from the three aspects of market supply and demand, market expectations, and policy implementation, the real estate market has undergone positive changes, and the signs of stabilization and recovery are obvious.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in February, among the 70 large and medium-sized cities, the sales prices of new commercial housing in first-, second- and third-tier cities rose by 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.3% respectively; 0.1%, second-hand housing sales prices in third-tier cities fell 0.4% from the previous month to remain flat. In terms of the number of rising cities, there were 55 and 40 cities where the sales prices of new commercial housing and second-hand housing rose month-on-month, respectively, an increase of 19 and 27 from the previous month.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics website
As for the main reason for the market recovery, Sheng Guoqing, chief statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that it is mainly due to the gradual emergence of policy effects and the further release of housing demand.
“On the one hand, recent policies have been implemented in different cities to optimize real estate control policies, which has reduced the cost of buying houses and further released rigid and improved housing demand; Rational financing has improved, and market confidence is recovering,” said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst of Centaline Real Estate.
The reporter recently visited the real estate market in first-tier cities and found that the second-hand housing market is more market-oriented, and the supply and demand feedback is faster than that of the new housing market. At present, the activity of property markets in Beijing and Shanghai has rebounded, and the transaction sentiment in the second-hand housing market has picked up. For some new projects in Shanghai, home buyers’ visits and subscription data rebounded significantly. Many marketing executives of real estate companies believe that due to better economic fundamentals and active demand for potential home purchases, the real estate market in Beijing and Shanghai is gradually recovering, and the activity of new and second-hand housing transactions is expected to continue.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in February, the sales prices of second-hand housing in Beijing and Shanghai rose by 0.8% and 1% month-on-month respectively. In addition, the prices of second-hand housing in cities such as Xi’an, Xuzhou, Tianjin, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen also experienced significant month-on-month increases.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics website
Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, analyzed that due to the influence of multiple factors last year, the real estate market as a whole was in a downward state. Some leading real estate companies had problems with their capital chains, and some places even faced difficulties in housing delivery. The central government attaches great importance to this, and various regions and departments actively introduce policies to stabilize the real estate market, adhere to the principle of “housing is not for speculation”, and implement policies according to cities to meet the reasonable financing needs of real estate companies and support rigid and improved housing needs. Last year’s guaranteed delivery policy played a very important role in ensuring people’s livelihood.
“Looking at this year, under the influence of a series of policies, as the economy warms up, the real estate market has undergone some positive changes, mainly reflected in the obvious narrowing of the decline in market sales.” Fu Linghui said that from January to February, the sales area of commercial housing It fell by 3.6% year-on-year, and the rate of decline was significantly narrower than that of last year; the sales of commercial housing fell by 0.1% year-on-year, which was also significantly narrowed. At the same time, real estate companies are also improving in terms of funds in place, start of construction, and investment. Generally speaking, the real estate market is still in the adjustment stage. With the gradual improvement of the economy and the improvement of market expectations, the real estate market is expected to gradually stabilize.
It is worth noting that while housing prices in key cities are stabilizing, the recovery of the property market in some areas is relatively slow and is facing market pressure. The E-House Research Institute released a report stating that all localities should continue to activate reasonable housing consumption demand to ensure stable volume and price.
On a year-on-year basis, house price growth is still weak. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in February, the sales price of commercial housing in first-tier cities rose year-on-year, while the year-on-year decline in second- and third-tier cities narrowed. Among the 70 large and medium-sized cities, 14 cities saw a year-on-year increase in the sales price of new commercial housing, one city less than the previous month;
For the current oversupply in third- and fourth-tier cities and the outer suburbs of first- and second-tier cities where there is obvious pressure to sell, some people in the industry suggest timely adjustments to the purchase restriction policy, such as reducing the number of years for non-hukou households to pay and deposit social security; to speed up the settlement of talents and support their purchase of houses Consumption. Some people in the industry pointed out that as the market gradually stabilizes, hot cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen may face a new round of rising pressure on house prices, and relevant policy adjustments must still be cautious to prevent market fluctuations.
