Mainland Chinese show record high interest in buying and trading up homes, survey shows

To gauge the buying demand among mainland Chinese for domestic and overseas residential properties, the South China Morning Post and consultancy Century 21 China Real Estate have partnered on a quarterly sentiment survey.

In the seventh poll conducted in Beijing and Shanghai in the third quarter, 304 Century 21 clients responded, compared with 181 in the second quarter.

The latest one showed 13 per cent of the respondents would like to buy a home in the next three months, which was the highest level in the survey’s history.

Also hitting the record level was the proportion of buyers who already owned a home and would like to trade up for a new, better and bigger one.

The high home buying sentiment is at odds with the results from an official poll by the People’s Bank of China, which indicated 13.8 per cent of 20,000 households in 50 major cities said they planned to buy a home in the next three months, down from 14.7 per cent in the second quarter.

But the official survey found that 49.7 per cent of the respondents regarded home prices as “unacceptably high” , as compared with 51.5 per cent in the second quarter.

Less than one in five, or 18.7 per cent, expected home prices to rise in the next three months, outnumbering the 14.4 per cent who expected a fall.

Local interest

Do you plan to buy a home in the next three months?

Yes: 13 per cent (compared with 10 per cent in the second quarter).

What is the price you can afford and what is the price of projects you are looking at now?

Twenty-seven per cent (50 per cent) said they could afford a price less than 30,000 yuan (HK$37,960) per square metre, while 25 per cent (50 per cent) said they were looking at projects below that price.

Do you own a home and do you plan to sell it in order to buy a new one?

Ninety-seven per cent (64 per cent) said they owned a home and 50 per cent (28 per cent) said they would sell it in order to buy a new one.

Overseas view

Do you plan to buy a home abroad in the next three months?

Yes: None (compared with none in the second quarter).

Why would you buy a home abroad?

Forty-eight per cent (28 per cent) cited children’s education for making such a decision, while 10 per cent (28 per cent) said it would be for emigration and 29 per cent (44 per cent) would do so for investment.

What is your main concern about buying properties abroad?

Thirty-nine (50 per cent) said policy issues would be their main concern, while 12 per cent (31 per cent) cited prices.