Guangzhou relaxes home purchase restrictions, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen may follow as China steps up property easing
- Guangzhou Municipality will now allow residents to buy two units in four more districts, namely Huangpu, Panyu, Huadu and parts of Baiyun
- Homeowners are now also exempt from value-added tax on lived-in home sales with two years of ownership versus five years of ownership required in the past
Guangzhou has relaxed home purchase restrictions, becoming the first among tier-one cities to take such a step, and analysts expect Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen to follow suit to prop up the sluggish home market.
The city will allow residents to buy two units in four more districts, namely Huangpu, Panyu, Huadu and parts of Baiyun, a notice issued by the municipal government of Guangzhou late on Wednesday showed.
Non-local residents are also allowed to buy a home in the core districts of Guangzhou with only two years of social insurance or personal income tax contribution record, compared with the earlier requirement of five years.
Previously, local residents were allowed to buy a maximum of two homes only in Zengcheng and Conghua districts and in some parts of Baiyun district, while non-locals could buy just one property.
Given the non-local population, which accounts for 45 per cent of Guangzhou’s population, the relaxation will stimulate more housing demand, said Raymond Cheng, managing director of CGS-CIMB Securities.
While similar easing measures were unveiled earlier in tier-two cities like Nanjing and Wuhan, Guangzhou became the first tier-one city to relax home purchase restrictions for the noncore districts and for non-local households.