Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, became one of the latest Chinese cities to announce measures to stabilize its property market on Tuesday.
While firmly sticking to antispeculation principles, some local governments are rolling out policies in accordance with their respective conditions to stabilize the property market, said industry experts.
The municipal government of Zhengzhou announced on its official website a notice promoting the healthy development and virtuous cycle of the property sector, which includes a package of 18 items falling into five categories.
The measures include supporting rational housing demand, improving housing supply, raising support for mortgage financing, increasing subsidized homes and optimizing the housing market environment.
The measures, while sticking to the principle of "housing is for living in, not for speculation", are created according to the special situation of the city, said the announcement. In line with the long-term mechanism of real estate sector development, the new regulations look to ensure the stabilization of land prices, home prices and market expectations, and to facilitate the nation's goal of promoting the property sector's healthy development and forming a virtuous cycle, it added.
Families expecting better living conditions can expect to benefit from the new policies, said industry experts.
Seniors outside of the city with children or close relatives working and living in Zhengzhou are welcome to spend their post-retirement life in the provincial capital. Therefore, families with such nonlocal senior members are allowed to buy an extra apartment, according to the notice.
This new policy has essentially loosened the city's restrictions on home purchases by allowing families to buy one more flat, said Yan Yuejin, director of Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institution.
Controls on home mortgages have also been eased for families that have already paid off their first-home loans.
"By lowering home purchase costs for families looking to upgrade their living conditions, the Zhengzhou policies will be supportive of rational homebuyers," Yan said.
More than 100 issuances of regulatory measures were announced by Chinese cities in the first two months, including lowering down payments, cutting home loan interest rates and speeding up mortgage approvals, China Securities Journal reported, citing statistics from Centaline Property.
In comparison with its peers, the Zhengzhou edition of policies aims to regulate its housing market in terms of supply, demand, developers as well as execution, said Pan Hao, senior analyst with the Beike Research Institute.
According to Pan, due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a flood last year, the property market and enterprises in Zhengzhou are under a lot of pressure. The practical policies will help stabilize the local market, allow rational demand to enter the market and help companies retain stable capital flow.
Experts said Zhengzhou's new measures suggest that future policies will ensure rational housing demand for self use while strictly following antispeculation guidelines. Hence, the real estate sector is expected to stabilize step by step.