Nation's housing market sizzles on policy measures

A view of a property project under construction in Fuzhou, Fujian province. (ZHANG BIN/CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

Optimization measures rolled out by China's central government as well as major cities, along with large-scale promotional activities by real estate developers, have led to a better-than-expected housing market performance during the weeklong National Day holiday, industry experts said on Wednesday.

To seize market opportunities brought on by favorable policies, property developers are looking to strengthen their competitiveness by enhancing quality and branding instead of resorting to price wars, experts said.

Despite a conventional low season for home transactions, the just-concluded National Day holiday saw greater transaction volumes for new homes in several Chinese cities, according to Chen Wenjing, director of research at the China Index Academy.

"The conditions are more evident in first-tier cities. In Guangzhou and Shenzhen of South China's Guangdong province, new home transaction volumes of projects monitored by China Index Academy are double that from the whole of September, and the number of deals inked during the same period surpassed that of September in Beijing and Shanghai," Chen said.

"It is worth noting that similar hot sales took place in second-tier cities including Chengdu of Sichuan province and Hangzhou of Zhejiang province," she said, attributing it to the bigger discounts that helped activate the real estate market.

During the first seven days of October, new home transactions in the key 22 cities tracked by China Real Estate Information Corp soared 26 percent in terms of space year-on-year, and that of Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou surged 42 percent, according to Ding Zuyu, CEO of E-House (China) Enterprise Holdings Ltd.

Along with the improved new home trade volumes, major real estate developers also reported outstanding sales. Some of the top 20 developers saw their sales grow between 60 percent and 150 percent, Ding said.

"The positive figures indicated that the home market confidence is steadily recovering," said Ding.

Policies announced by the central and local governments to stabilize the home market have played a great role in boosting market confidence. Meanwhile, significant promotions by real estate developers have also contributed to the market performance, said Li Yujia, a researcher on residential policy in Guangdong province.

According to Li, several residential projects resorted to offering gold, new energy vehicles, and huge discounts to homebuyers, but regardless of the appealing gifts or discounts, the bestselling projects are always the ones with reasonable prices and high quality under big-name developers.

With the home market entering its conventional peak season, some developers are adjusting their pricing strategy, which is also in line with the central government's call for market stabilization, according to local news portal ThePaper.cn.