Beijing scraps limits on listing prices of pre-owned homes in popular Haidian school district in bid to prop up demand

In Haidian, a district known for its good schools and access to quality education, 29 properties are now publicly advertising their listing prices for pre-owned homes, as reported by local news outlets.

Properties whose ownership grants students free admission to prestigious schools nearby were previously prohibited from listing their prices due to inflated demand between 2020 and 2021. A price restriction was also put in place by the Haidian district property association in September 2021 to rein in a price surge and stabilise the market.

“We’re already seeing an increase in the number of clients inquiring about school district houses,” said Li Hongqing, an agent for 5i5j.com, a real estate brokerage firm. The prices of a batch of “zhankeng fang”, or “pit-occupying homes” that are usually too small and unsuitable for living but attract buyers due to their proximity to good schools, have also become available, Li added.

The limit on listing prices was scrapped as early as last Friday, several property agents told the Post, and homebuyers are now able to see the prices of several school district properties on housing websites and apps. More property owners are expected to market their listings in the next couple of weeks, the agents added.

A full list of the 29 properties on sale obtained by the Post shows that their prices range from 49,000 yuan (US$6,717) to 171,000 yuan per square metre for flats measuring under 60 square metres.

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The news came on the heels of a slew of measures issued by the central and local governments to revive the country’s declining housing market.

In a separate move to increase demand, the Chinese central bank issued a guidance late last month asking commercial banks to lower interest rates on outstanding mortgages for first home loans, which could help households save up to 109 billion yuan in interest outlays and total expenditure of 117 billion yuan, about 0.2 per cent of China’s annual household disposable income on average, according to analysts’ estimates.

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The rate cuts mark some of the more concrete regulatory moves to boost China’s beleaguered property market, which, as of last month, saw a 15 per cent decrease in prices of existing homes in prime neighbourhoods of major cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as a more than 50 per cent drop in prices in second and third-tier cities, according to official data.

The value of residential sales in the country also fell 43 per cent month-on-month in July to 654.5 billion yuan, the weakest monthly sales in close to six years.