China’s property crisis: Shenzhen cuts down payments for second-home buyers, joining fray of cities trying to revive demand
- Authorities are also scrapping a measure restricting the scope of buyers who can enjoy the lower down payments
- It will not be enough ‘to drive a meaningful sales recovery,’ says Cynthia Chan at Daiwa Capital Markets
They are also scrapping a measure that had restricted the scope of buyers who can enjoy lower down payments.
At the same time, Shenzhen’s housing authority scrapped the threshold below which homebuyers qualified for lower down payments, enabling more people to benefit.
The Housing and Construction Bureau changed the definition of “ordinary housing”, or non-luxury homes, that qualify for lower down payments. In the past, only homes valued at less than 7.5 million yuan (US$1.05 million) fell within this category, making them eligible.
Before today’s adjustment, the down payment ratio was 70 per cent for an “ordinary home” and 80 per cent for the rest.
The savings are considerable. For example, someone buying a second house valued at 5 million yuan will now only have to pay 2 million yuan up front versus 3.5 million yuan previously – a 43 per cent reduction in down payment costs.
For someone buying a more expensive property, the savings up front are even greater. The down payment for a 10 million-yuan home would now be 4 million yuan, down from 8 million yuan.
“On a more positive note, we note the government, at both state and local level, accelerated policy support for the sector in recent weeks which, in our view, underscores that policy makers are growing anxious about the sector turmoil evolving into a systematic crisis,” Chan said.
“We believe this will pave the way for stronger measures in the near term.”
Other large cities on the mainland have taken steps recently to spur demand in their struggling property markets. Authorities in Beijing and Shanghai said in September they would let first-home buyers enjoy preferential mortgage rates regardless of their previous credit records.