After rumors that Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Changsha, and other cities were considering relaxing purchase restrictions were denied, Nanning in Guangxi took the lead in easing restrictions. Recently, Tianjin Binhai New Area announced that it will implement differentiated purchase restrictions and introduce a shared property rights housing policy, allowing buyers to move in after paying a 10% down payment and purchase the remaining property rights once their financial conditions improve.

　　The relaxation of purchase restrictions by these cities is seen by the industry as a signal that the real estate market is stimulating the housing market. However, according to Hu Zhigang, vice president of the China Real Estate Research Association, relaxing purchase restrictions is a practice of classified regulation implemented by individual cities, and it may not necessarily serve to rescue the market, though it could be a way for local housing markets to digest inventory.

　　Relaxing purchase restrictions is only an expedient measure to rescue the market

　　Recently, the real estate market has shown an overall downward trend. On April 16, the National Bureau of Statistics released statistics for the first quarter of this year, showing that the sales area of commercial housing was 201 million square meters, with sales of 133 million yuan, down 3.8% and 5.2% year-on-year, respectively. Among them, residential sales area and amount fell by 5.7% and 7.7%, respectively. Many cities, including Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Changzhou, and even Beijing and Shanghai, saw housing prices decline in March this year. At the same time, the growth rate of real estate development investment is also declining. In the first quarter, national real estate development investment was 1,533.9 billion yuan, a month-on-month decrease of 2.5%.

　　Moreover, high inventory is also one of the main factors affecting the sustainable development of the housing market. According to a real estate market research report released by the Shanghai Real Estate Science Research Institute, as of the end of March this year, the total inventory of new commercial residential housing in 20 monitored cities nationwide was 84.01 million square meters, up 2% month-on-month and 16.3% year-on-year, hitting a new high in nearly five years. Among the 20 cities, including first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, 14 cities saw month-on-month inventory increases. Among them, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Maoming had relatively large inventory increases, with month-on-month growth of 10%, 9.8%, and 7.5%, respectively.

　　In an interview with our reporter, Hu Zhigang said that due to low sales and high inventory in the housing market, some local governments have to reconsider the possibility of relaxing purchase restrictions. This practice is a classified regulation of the housing market implemented by individual local governments. To ensure stable economic growth in China, in 2013 the national level proposed a new approach to real estate regulation, allowing different cities to introduce slightly tighter or looser fine-tuning policies according to their own characteristics. The relaxation of purchase restrictions currently implemented in Nanning and Tianjin is exactly one of the classified regulation policies permitted by the central government, such as differentiated, dual-track, and market-oriented adjustments. However, in the long run, relaxing purchase restrictions is only an expedient measure to rescue the market, not a long-term solution.

　　Whether it can stimulate the housing consumption market is up to the market

　　“Although the central government allows local governments to implement classified regulation, whether local relaxation of purchase restrictions can rescue the market still depends on the market,” Hu Zhigang said. “From the current situation, some local governments have begun to relax purchase restrictions to stimulate market demand. This practice may to some extent play a role in rescuing the market, but most urban housing markets show a trend of ‘buying when prices rise, not when they fall.’ The more prices are lowered, the fewer people buy. Some real estate developers have promoted sales by cutting prices, but this has not increased housing sales. Whether relaxing purchase restrictions can ultimately boost housing sales and digest inventory still depends on the actual results.”

　　The reporter learned that just as Wenzhou, Changsha, Hangzhou, and other places successively spread news that the housing market was considering relaxing purchase restriction policies, housing prices in Wenzhou had been falling for 31 consecutive months, with some property prices halved and still trending downward; Hangzhou also frequently reported news of discounted property promotions, which attracted public attention and enthusiasm, but sales did not重现 the booming scene. Industry insiders said that purchase restriction policies are mainly concentrated in key cities and economically developed areas with relatively strong market purchasing power. However, after years of purchase restrictions, coupled with the pressure of expected property tax levies, investment and speculative demand has basically been brought under control. Housing prices are already at a high level, and few people can truly afford them. Even if purchase restrictions are lifted, it can only achieve a short-term stimulus effect and is difficult to sustain.

　　Sustainable development of the housing market relies on the successful transformation of development enterprises

　　Hu Zhigang believes that local attempts to relax purchase restrictions are aimed at boosting housing demand and may achieve the goal of stimulating consumption in the short term. However, from the perspective of the long-term development of the housing market, only when development enterprises endow housing with more cultural, technological, and other connotations can they truly promote housing sales. Development enterprises need to change traditional sales concepts and transform from developers to service providers, focusing more on how to provide owners with high-quality supporting services, in order to drive the vigorous development of the real estate market.

　　“In the past, real estate enterprises were simply developers that developed land and built houses, selling only steel, cement, and concrete. In the future, real estate enterprises should not only process land but also integrate culture, history, landscapes, scenery, nostalgia, and other elements into housing, promoting a people-oriented lifestyle. The business model of developers should also gradually shift from commercial housing sales to fully or partially holding and operating properties, with emphasis on developing community supporting services. Currently, Vanke is actively exploring a mature community business model, using advanced information technologies such as mobile Internet, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing to create a new model of Blue Card home medical services and family doctor services,” Hu Zhigang said.

　　Hu Zhigang stated that in the future, the real estate market will mainly rely on market demand for regulation. Only by satisfying the housing demands of mainstream consumer groups can developers truly earn profits and win the market. The successful transformation of real estate enterprises is not only related to their own development but will also have a profound impact on the housing market. Currently, the relaxation of purchase restriction policies implemented in some places is only a classified regulation of the housing market, and whether it can achieve the expected results still needs to be tested by the market. In the long run, it may not be conducive to the healthy development of the real estate industry.