Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou officials vow support for China’s struggling property market, stocks surge

Housing authorities in China’s tier-one cities pledged support for a recovery in the housing market, reflecting Beijing’s intent to further ease property measures and sending shares of developers surging on Monday.

Over the weekend, official statements from top tier cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou vowed support for the struggling property market. The Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in Beijing and Shenzhen separately posted statements on their WeChat official accounts on Saturday and Sunday, saying they would “satisfy the rigid demand and improvement demand for housing” and “facilitate a stabilised and healthy development” of the city’s housing markets.

Local newspaper reports on Sunday said the Guangzhou Municipal Commission of Housing will soon roll out loosening measures to further support housing demand and support the development of the city’s property market.

The moves from the cities, which have tightened the property sector the most, came after Ni Hong, China’s Minister of Housing and Urban-rural Development, said in a meeting with representatives of developers on Thursday that more easing measures for the property sector would be implemented, including lowering mortgage rates and cutting down-payment ratios.

It follows a pledge made by the Politburo, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, in a meeting held last Monday to adjust and optimise property policies in a timely manner to engineer a gradual recovery of the industry through 2025.

The slogan of “housing is for living, not for speculation” was excluded from the official announcement for the first time in five years, fuelling speculation that China will ease the restrictive property measures in tier-one and tier-two cities.