China - Housing 01 (May 08 - May 10)

[kennynah]

China guru W, all these above applicable to singaporeans n foreigners? Tx

[winston]

Hi K,

My understanding is that Singaporeans can only buy one property and only in the city that they are employed.

Take care,
Winston

[kennynah]

Tx W. Like dat ah. Half baked policy lah

[winston]

Rules eased on second homes Katherine Ng

China is to loosen its tight control on the property sector by allowing purchasers of second homes to enjoy the same benefits as first-time buyers, and cutting taxes to help both the ailing property market and wider economy.

The State Council said yesterday that anyone whose first home's per-capita gross floor area was below the city average would be entitled to a 30 percent discount in mortgage rate and 20 percent downpayment terms on the purchase of a second home - the same as for any first-home buyer.

Second-house buyers currently pay 1.1 times interest rate, and 40 percent downpayment.

The new laws would also shorten the holding period to two years from five years, during which a transaction levy is charged if the homeowner sells the apartment.

The People's Bank of China asked lenders to offer discounted loans to mass- market housing projects and provide funding for qualified developers in mergers and acquisitions.

Developers in China welcomed the latest moves as positive to the sluggish property market.

SRE Group (1207) vice chairman and co-president Yu Haisheng said the worst was over for the property market as November transactions improved by 30 percent over the previous year.

However, determining whether the new measures will boost the market will have to wait until spring when the property sector's trade fair starts.

The long-awaited measures, announced with other fiscal policies, were viewed by economists and developers as a positive signal China is determined to boost demand and growth.

"These policies should be positive for large developers, and positive for demand on construction materials such as steel and cement," said Merrill Lynch China economist Lu Ting.

Lu said property investment made up 9.2 percent of China's gross domestic product, and as such, the policy would help to support the government's call for 8 percent GDP growth in 2009.

"The basket of measures show Beijing is trying to use more specific and targeted means to kickstart the economy, which is slumping," said State Street Global Markets economist Dwyfor Evans. He added he expects there will be another deep interest rate cut, up to 108 basis points, and another 200-basis- point decline in bank reserve ratio requirement, within a couple of months.

China has set an initial target of between 3 percent and 4.8 percent for inflation next year.

[kennynah]

open up to foreigners lah....wahliao...they have so much land...scared what ???

[winston]

China Gives Local Governments Power to Support Property Market By Li Yanping

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- China will give local governments more power to support their property markets to help turn around a nationwide real-estate slump.

“While implementing the central government’s policies, local authorities can announce measures, based on their own needs, to increase welfare-housing construction, encourage rational home consumption and promote the healthy development of the property market,” the State Council said in a statement on the government’s Web site yesterday.

Falling home sales are undermining construction and domestic consumption just as export demand collapses because of recessions in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Royal Bank of Scotland last week cut its forecast for China’s growth in 2009 by almost half to 5 percent, which would be the weakest pace since 1990.

More than 200 billion yuan ($29.2 billion) is sitting “idle” in individual housing funds nationwide, Vice Housing Minister Qi Ji said in March. All employees and companies in China are supposed to contribute to a personal fund which can be drawn on when workers want to buy or redecorate their home.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development is drafting plans to allow some local authorities to take some of this money and use it to build economic housing for low-income families, the cabinet said in yesterday’s statement.

The government will also encourage banks to increase lending for “welfare” home projects, the cabinet said, adding that it has set an annual construction target of 1.3 million homes for low-income families over the next two years.

Home sales fell 20.6 percent in the first 11 months of 2008 from a year earlier and investment in real-estate development, which accounts for a quarter of the nation’s overall fixed-asset investment, grew at a slower pace, according to government data.

[winston]

Rebound seen in China real estate sector
Alfred Liu

The mainland's ailing property sector is expected to recover this year as new government measures take effect.

The Beijing municipal government, for instance, has purchased about 1,000 commercial housing units to provide more "welfare homes" to improve living quality.

"We will help people improve housing problems by different means," Niu Qingshan, head of Chongwen district, was quoted as saying in the Beijing Times.

He said the apartments bought by the municipal government were at least 15 percent cheaper than other flats in the same district.

The State Council has set a target of 1.3 million homes for low-income families in three years while bolstering the real estate market. Beijing's move signals that the central government's directives are being followed.

Late last month, Shanghai introduced new measures giving buyers of second homes the same preferential mortgage terms enjoyed by first-home buyers.

Adrian Ngan Wai-hung, an executive director at CCB International Securities' research department, said the mainland property market is likely to revive this year following the string of policies to boost the sector.

"There are no more austerity measures," he said, predicting that Beijing will cut interest rates further and lower bank reserve requirements.

However, property prices are not likely to rise in the first half as there is an oversupply of flats and developers will continue to discount prices, Ngan said.

He expects transactions to increase 20 percent to 30 percent later this year when the market begins to feel the effects of the policy changes.

Meanwhile, SOHO China (0410) chairman Pan Shiyi said the real estate market in the mainland has touched bottom, but it is hard to predict how long the "mess" will last.

In an interview with China Business News, he said the authorities must act quickly to stimulate the market.

[winston]

Property prices still too unaffordable, says Beijing

Beijing said property prices remain too high for many mainlanders, vowing to provide cheap housing for millions of low-income families.

''We will get the job done on ... fundraising and land supply to make sure that the target of boosting low-price housing can be realized,'' vice housing minister Qi Ji said.

''House prices have fallen somewhat ... but are still not affordable for ordinary people,'' the government said in a statement before Qi spoke.

Beijing announced in December a property stimulus package that will help find housing for 7.5 million low-income urban families and 2.4 million households in poor areas over the next three years.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

[LenaHuat]

Fr WSJ:

BEIJING -- China said it will expand public housing and urged real-estate developers to cut home prices, as it tries to boost housing sales and the construction industry to support the weakening economy and avert further job losses.

Prices are "still not affordable for ordinary people," four government agencies said in a joint statement. "The key to revitalizing the real-estate market is to set reasonable prices," the housing ministry, finance ministry, central bank and the National Development and Reform Commission said.

[millionairemind]

Jan 10, 2009
China house prices fall
BEIJING - CHINESE property prices fell in December for the first time since 2005, state media reported on Saturday, quoting official figures.

The price of housing in 70 major cities fell 0.4 per cent year-on-year, Xinhua news agency said, quoting from a statement issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning agency, and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The southern boom town of Shenzhen, which neighbours Hong Kong and symbolises the country's economic reforms, saw the largest fall, with prices down 18.1 per cent.

Property prices in the 70 cities were down 0.5 per cent compared with November.

Xinhua said it was the first fall since July 2005, when the government started publishing the figures.

Since November, the authorities have exempted property transactions from stamp duty and capital gains tax in an attempt to avoid a crash in the property market, which accounts for more than 20 percent of the country's urban fixed-asset investment.

Local authorities in several regions have already taken initiatives to boost the real estate market, including preferential rates for buying housing. -- AFP