Beijing municipality eases home purchase curbs to shore up sluggish market
China’s property sector, once a pillar of economic growth, has been on a downward trajectory since the second half of 2021
The Beijing municipal government has further relaxed home buying curbs by lowering the threshold for individual income tax payments and by allowing multi-child families to purchase extra properties.
The move was seen as a precursor to more national supportive policies expected in 2026 aimed at shoring up the sluggish property market, an industry expert said.
China aims to stabilise the nation’s property market as part of its 15th Five-Year Plan, which kicks off in 2026, according to a national conference held in Beijing earlier this week.
The policies rolled out in the national capital of Beijing were also seen as a benchmark for the rest of the country, said Liu Jing, a professor of accounting and finance, specialising in real estate, at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.
Non-Beijing hukou residents, or those without official residency, are now eligible to buy homes within the Fifth Ring Road, a major expressway around the city, after completing at least two consecutive years of local income tax or social security payments, down from a three-year requirement previously.
The eligibility threshold for homes purchased outside the Fifth Ring Road has been lowered to one year of tax payments, down from two, according to guidelines issued on Wednesday by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other authorities.