Just ahead of the May Day holiday, cities including Guangzhou and Tianjin have introduced new property market policies. On April 30, the General Office of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government issued an implementation opinion aimed at further promoting the stable and healthy development of the real estate market. The document outlines eight major measures, including raising the cap on housing provident fund loans, providing subsidies for homeowners who sell one property to buy another, and expanding the scope of application for housing vouchers.
Li Yujia, Chief Researcher at the Housing Policy Research Center of the Guangdong Provincial Urban-Rural Planning Institute, commented that Guangzhou's new policy comprehensively implements the principles of "controlling new supply, reducing inventory, and optimizing supply." It introduces a package of support measures targeting both supply and demand, as well as policy and reform aspects.
Besides Guangzhou, Tianjin also announced new property market policies on the same day, proposing 11 measures. These include actively revitalizing existing commercial housing stock, striving to meet rigid housing demand, and encouraging the purchase of homes for improved living conditions.
Yan Yuejin, Vice President of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute, stated that key cities have significantly accelerated their policy responses before the May Day holiday. The密集出台 of policies with clear directions represents a positive response to the central economic work conference's call to "strive to stabilize the real estate market."
A particularly notable measure in Guangzhou's new policy is the首次提出 of a special subsidy for homeowners who "sell old and buy new" to support those upgrading their homes. Specifically, Guangzhou will issue a special "sell old, buy new" subsidy. Residents who purchase a new commercial residential property in the city and complete the online signing between the implementation date of these opinions and December 31, 2026, and who also sell a second-hand residential property they own in the city within one year before or after the online signing date, can apply for the special subsidy from the municipal real estate administration department. The subsidy amount is 1% of the total loan amount for the new home purchased, with a maximum subsidy of 30,000 yuan per unit. The total subsidy fund is 200 million yuan, available on a first-come, first-served basis until exhausted.
Yan Yuejin interpreted this measure: "Guangzhou's provision of a financial subsidy for home-swapping demand, calculated at 1% of the new home's loan amount and clearly allocated until funds are depleted on a first-come basis, helps encourage swapping demand, especially since May, to actively enter the market. This is also the first case among first-tier cities proposing a mortgage interest subsidy, setting a strong example."
Li Yujia added: "This move primarily addresses the current pain points of numerous transaction steps, high costs, and冗长 processes in the transaction chain. By providing subsidies, it lowers transaction costs and incentivizes homeowners to sell their old properties and buy new ones. The maximum subsidy of 30,000 yuan per unit can cover most of the taxes and fees involved in the transaction, which constitute the largest cost in selling old and buying new."
Simultaneously, Tianjin's new policy also includes corresponding tax rebate measures to support those purchasing improved housing. For example, Tianjin stipulates that from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2027, taxpayers who sell their own housing within Tianjin and repurchase housing within the city within one year after the sale can enjoy a rebate on the individual income tax already paid from the sale of their current home.
The new property market policies in Guangzhou and Tianjin provide targeted support for different housing needs, highlighting precise policy efforts. For instance, regarding support for rigid demand, Tianjin encourages its districts to provide home-purchase or rental subsidies to various groups, including talents, new citizens, young people, and recent university graduates, gradually addressing the阶段性 housing difficulties faced by these groups.
In Guangzhou, targeting both rigid demand and upgraders, the new policy significantly increases the maximum housing provident fund loan amount to 1 million yuan for individuals and 2 million yuan for families. It also relaxes the conditions for converting commercial loans to provident fund loans or组合贷, substantially reducing monthly repayment pressure.
Based on regional characteristics, Guangzhou encourages districts with the necessary conditions, when granting land, to consider the capacity of compulsory education阶段学位 resources and the specific circumstances of the land plots. They are encouraged to introduce measures such as "confirming school placement during the pre-sale stage" and "enrollment possible after online signing." The policy also supports Hong Kong and Macao residents purchasing property in Guangzhou by simplifying application materials, providing mortgage conveniences, and offering green channels for fund settlement, including supporting cross-border RMB settlement for housing provident funds.
Yang Yongjun, an analyst at the South China Branch of the China Index Academy, analyzed: "Policies in Guangzhou's new measures, such as提前锁定 'school admission upon purchase' eligibility and facilitating settlements for Hong Kong and Macao residents, aim to specifically tap into the housing demand of particular groups, effectively increasing market vitality."
Beyond挖掘 incremental housing demand, the new policies in Guangzhou and Tianjin also propose targeted measures to address the absorption of the current stock market, forming a policy combination of "incremental + stock." For example, Tianjin proposes actively revitalizing existing commercial housing stock, prioritizing the purchase of eligible existing commercial housing for use as rental-oriented保障性住房, sale-oriented保障性住房,安置房, dormitories, talent housing, etc., to reasonably regulate various new保障性住房 projects. It encourages operating entities like housing rental enterprises to raise funds through multiple channels and legally acquire existing commercial housing for use as rental housing. Simultaneously, it aims to accelerate the revitalization of existing land stock, utilizing special bond funds to acquire idle land. Support is provided for enterprises to promote continuous real estate project development through reasonable optimization of design requirements. Furthermore, financial support for acquisition and revitalization efforts is increased, encouraging commercial banks to issue group purchase loans for housing rentals and housing rental operating loans.
Guangzhou's new policy also明确 states support for acquiring existing commercial residential properties during urban village renovations for use as安置房, and encourages the acquisition of existing commercial and office properties for安置 of经营性物业. Efforts to reduce inventory of commercial and office properties will be intensified, promoting the compliant conversion of existing commercial and office properties for uses such as medical, educational, elderly care, hotel, wellness, and保障性住房 purposes, based on local conditions. The use of special bonds to reclaim eligible inefficient existing land will continue.
Yan Yuejin believes that the key to stabilizing the real estate market lies in the organic combination of stock policies and incremental policies. Specifically, incremental policies need to be quickly absorbed into market transactions, shortening the time lag between policy announcement and practical effect. Stock policies should continue to release their effects, avoiding the闲置 or diminishment of already loosened policies, thereby forming a combined effect. Efforts from both the supply and demand sides should协同发力 to avoid policy fragmentation.
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