Zhengzhou is first Chinese city to ease second-home buying restrictions as local authorities try to reverse property market slump

Name: High hopes for China’s Greater Bay Area, but integrating 11 cities will pose challenges
Uploaded: 2022-03-02T10:00:36.000Z
Duration: 6 min 19 s
Description: High hopes for China’s Greater Bay Area, but integrating 11 cities will pose challenges

The city in Henan province sold 6.5 billion yuan (US$1 billion) worth of homes in January, about half the value that changed hands a year ago

Analysts are expecting more large-scale loosening measures will be seen in different cities, even big ones like Zhengzhou

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A construction site for residential buildings in Zhengzhou, Henan province. Photo: Reuters

Pearl Liu

Published: 6:00pm, 2 Mar 2022

Zhengzhou, the capital of central Henan province, has become the first mainland Chinese city to ease restrictions on buying a second home, as more local authorities take measures to reverse a nationwide residential property market slump.

The city’s banks have lowered the mortgage rate for second-home buyers, according to a document posted on the website of Zhengzhou’s government late on Tuesday.

The document listed 19 measures aimed at helping real estate development.

Most important among them were one allowing close relatives of people who work in Zhengzhou to buy a home in the city, and one enabling buyers who have already fully repaid one mortgage to enjoy a first-home mortgage rate on a second house.

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High hopes for China’s Greater Bay Area, but integrating 11 cities will pose challenges

“Zhengzhou became the first city that totally lost both caps on home purchases as well as home mortgages. The measures are strong and can help the dormant market pick up,” said Du Haomin, a property analyst with Sinolink Securities.