Property biz requires more policy moves

China rolled out a number of policy measures in 2024 designed to reduce financial burdens and ease access for homebuyers, while also arresting the recent downturn in the country's real estate sector and guiding the industry toward a more sustainable development path, analysts said.

Going forward, more forceful steps need to be taken to sustain recovery momentum in the real estate sector, they said, stressing that expanding the supply of government-subsidized housing and accelerating the redevelopment of urban villages will be high on the government work agenda, as well as addressing people's evolving preferences for improved living environments.

Amid China's dedicated efforts to fine-tune housing policies, new home sales in 30 key cities monitored by the China Real Estate Information Corporation in November reached a new high this year, rising 3 percent from the previous month and 20 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the market for secondhand homes in a number of major cities saw a notable surge in November, with Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, as well as some provincial capitals, recording the highest sales volumes in recent times, according to data from real estate agencies.

The housing market is clearly responding positively to this coordinated policy support, said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.

In mid-November, policymakers in various cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen unveiled new preferential tax policies aimed at lowering transaction costs for homebuyers, the latest step in a broader bid to stabilize the country's real estate market.