Shanghai Relaxes Property Rules to Boost Economy
Shanghai has recently made changes to its property rules in the hopes of stimulating its struggling economy. Previously, many cities in China had implemented strict restrictions on home purchases to control rising prices, but now they are reversing these policies to combat a slowdown in the real estate market.
Shanghai, China’s largest and wealthiest city, has reduced the residency requirement for property buyers from five years to three years. Additionally, they have lowered the minimum down payment for mortgages to 20 percent and allowed families with two or more children to purchase an extra home.
Other major cities in China, such as Hangzhou and Xi’an, have also taken steps to ease purchase restrictions for first-time buyers. The central government has also intervened by lowering the minimum down payment rate for first-time homebuyers and considering purchasing unused commercial real estate to support the struggling property and construction sector.
These changes come as the government aims to address the debt crisis among developers, low demand, and falling prices in the real estate market, which has long been a significant contributor to China’s GDP.