China’s Shenyang Awaits Official Word on Reported Easing of Property Curbs(Yicai Global) Nov. 11 -- Following online reports that the government of Shenyang city in northeastern China was planning to relax restrictions on property sales, a local official said his department had not yet received notice to that effect.
“We’re waiting for official documents and instructions from the top,” the staffer at the Shenyang Real Estate Registration Center told Yicai Global, adding that he had heard about the plan to ease restrictions.
Online reports said that in an effort to support Shenyang’s property market, the city’s real estate bureau summoned major local developers yesterday and notified them about the lifting of various restrictions from today.
The staffer at the Shenyang Real Estate Registration Center advised that home buyers take a wait and see approach.
A local realtor also confirmed that the city government called developers to a meeting yesterday, but all parties are still waiting for further notice.
Previous eligibility restrictions on home buyers may be lifted. Information on individual household registration and property ownership declared by the buyer will also be changed to a declaration of good faith, which is no longer subject to regulatory reviews, the realtor added.
Like other major cities in China, Shenyang has imposed restrictions on home buyers' qualifications in response to an overheating housing market. They include differentiated mortgage rates and property deed tax policies based on the buyer’s property ownership to dampen speculation by outsiders or locals who already own more than one property.
According to RDAS data, Shenyang’s housing transactions covered an area of about 11.87 million square meters last year, down 27 percent from 2019.
An industry insider said northeastern China’s housing market as a whole is not so hot compared with other regions of the country. The reasons behind it are complex, including population loss and an aging industrial structure. If Shenyang loosens restrictions, its impact on the market will need monitoring.
Editors: Tang Shihua, Peter Thomas
