Beijing makes major policy adjustments to boost home sales

The Beijing municipal government on Wednesday announced several major adjustments to policies for home purchases, including lowering the minimum down payment, in a bid to boost home sales.

Starting on Thursday, the minimum down payment ratio for first-time home buyers will be lowered to 20 percent, down from the current ratio of 30 percent, according to a notice issued by several Beijing municipal government departments.

For second-home buyers, the down payment ratio for homes within the fifth ring road will be lowered to 35 percent, and for homes outside of the fifth ring road, the ratio will be lowered to 30 percent.

Also notably, for families with two or more children, their purchase of a second home will be eligible for more favorable policies for first-time home buyers, according to the notice.

Beijing’s move on Wednesday followed similar measures by a growing list of cities across China to relax restrictions on home purchases in a bid to boost the real estate market.

On April 30, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee demanded research on policies to reduce housing inventory and improve the quality of newly added housing, noting that efforts should be pushed ahead to establish a new model of the real estate sector to promote its high-quality development, according to Xinhua.

Following various measures at both central and local government levels, China’s real estate industry has seen some encouraging signs, according to officials.

Last week, Liu Aihua, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said that since mid-May, relevant departments and regions have further adjusted and optimized real estate policies, and the real estate market has seen some positive changes while noting that the real estate market is still in the process of adjustment.