In some large and medium-sized cities, luxury homes, villas and other second-hand properties have been put up for "dumping," with price cuts of several million yuan to attract buyers. Meanwhile, the recently released National New-Type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020) proposes establishing a unified real estate registration system based on land before 2020 and achieving nationwide housing information networking. Against the backdrop of intensifying anti-corruption efforts, the two are easily linked.

 

　　Officials Selling Properties Receive a "Hint"

 

　　A reporter recently visited a well-known residential development in Panyu District, Guangzhou, where the second-hand housing market has been exceptionally brisk lately.

 

　　According to a business manager at Centaline Property, the community has more than 100 villas. When the project opened more than 10 years ago, the developer sold these villas to some officials with "connections" at "cost price" or "friendly price." "Based on the invoice price at the time, a villa of about 200 square meters cost only 300,000 to more than 400,000 yuan; now it is at least seven to eight million yuan."

 

　　A real estate agency outside the North Fifth Ring Road in Beijing recently hung a banner reading "Free consultation on intra-family property transfers." A staff member told the reporter this is a "hint" to speculators and certain officials: if a property tax is levied in the future or anti-corruption efforts intensify, smoothly transferring the property to relatives' names would allow them to "escape disaster."

 

　　Experts Say Registration and Networking Prompt Property Sales

 

　　"The current 'dumping' of properties is related to some extent to the advancement of real estate registration and housing information networking, as well as intensified anti-corruption efforts," said Ren Jianming, a professor at the School of Public Administration of Beihang University. "Some corrupt officials fear that once their properties are made public, anti-corruption authorities will take notice and require them to explain the source of their huge assets."

 

　　Zhu Lijia, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, believes housing information networking will bring anti-corruption clues "to the surface." At that point, properties cannot be hidden like cash, forcing some officials to rush to sell.

 

　　Question 1

 

　　Can "Anti-Corruption" Resolve Chronic Problems in the Housing Market?

 

　　According to media reports, Guangdong Province is gradually advancing pilot programs for official asset disclosure, and officials at the division level and above in Beijing and some central ministries are also registering their properties. Some officials with multiple properties are accelerating the disposal of "gray properties."

 

　　"The relationship between property and corruption is hard to separate. Looking at corrupt officials already investigated, one characteristic is that they own large numbers of gray properties," Ren Jianming said. He believes that purely from the perspective of curbing housing prices, the real estate registration system can indeed have a certain effect.

 

　　Some officials "dumping properties" will also help increase market supply. Wang Shi, founder of Vanke Group, said anti-corruption is also a form of regulation.

 

　　Question 2

 

　　Will Difficult Networking Weaken Oversight?

 

　　The reporter learned that housing information networking is not progressing smoothly in many parts of the country. Some places strictly prohibit property information inquiries based on names. Analysts worry this may give some officials a "breathing period" to dispose of "gray properties."

 

　　As anti-corruption efforts continue to intensify, property sales by some officials may continue to increase in the short term. Zhu Lijia said that when officials rush to sell properties, monitoring related to "transferring assets overseas" should also be further strengthened.