Key Chinese cities adjust buying regulations to boost real estate market

TIANJIN — North China's Tianjin municipality abolished restrictive measures on home buying on Wednesday, marking another major Chinese city to adjust housing purchase policies to stabilize the real estate market.

Located near Beijing, Tianjin has a population of more than 13 million.

The city lifted restrictions on purchasing and transferring new and secondhand homes as well as price caps on new commodity housing sales, according to a circular jointly issued by six government departments of Tianjin, including the municipal housing and urban-rural construction commission.

To align with national financial support policies, Tianjin has standardized the minimum down payment ratio for personal housing loans at 15 percent, regardless of whether the purchase is for a first or second home, said the circular, which took effect on Wednesday.

Similarly, Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province on Tuesday granted all homeowners and homebuyers in the city eligibility to apply for household registrations in the city.

Individuals who purchase commodity housing that is already delivered, or secondhand housing within the administrative area of Chengdu, are eligible to apply for the city's household registrations at the location of the housing, according to new regulations issued by city authorities.

Residential or household registrations, referred to as hukou in Chinese, have always been a key attraction for non-natives in major cities, as they lead to opportunities and benefits upon securing permanent residency in a city.

Chengdu has a population of more than 21 million, making it one of the most economically dynamic cities in Southwest China. The number of people with household registration status in Chengdu currently totals nearly 16 million, according to the Chengdu Municipal Statistics Bureau.

The new regulations, valid for three years, grant homeowners and homebuyers undifferentiated eligibility to apply for residential status in Chengdu — eliminating hukou qualification restrictions prescribed in previous regulations concerning the size of the purchased property and the amount of time that has passed since the purchase.

Recently, major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, have adjusted their real estate policies, with a slew of measures unveiled to boost local property markets.

Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said that it would support municipal governments, especially those in first-tier cities, to leverage their decision-making powers to regulate the real estate market and adjust policies restricting housing purchases based on local conditions.