The "eight-year sales restriction" agreement in Hebei's Xianghe property market looms, and the operation of breaking the purchase restriction will change its tactics

As one of the "Three North Counties" surrounding Beijing, Xianghe County is an hour's drive from the East Third Ring Road of Beijing. Bus No. 938 can drive directly from this Hebei county to Beijing Dabeiyao. However, under the purchase restriction policy, there has not been a rush of home buyers here for a long time.

Recently, a reporter from "China Business News" visited and found that although the official has not issued new policies related to purchase restrictions, local real estate sales staff have begun to claim that foreign buyers can directly purchase property locally through "talent introduction" and other methods. When purchasing a house, there are also rumors such as the "eight-year sales restriction" that have been widely circulated, and the Xianghe property market has attracted attention again.

Although the property market in Xianghe shows signs of improvement, neither the "relaxation of purchase restrictions" nor the rumored agreement have been officially confirmed. According to official documents, purchasing a house in Xianghe still requires the implementation of the purchase restriction policy introduced in 2017.

Transaction volume recovers slowly

"New Beijing Sunshine and Vibrant Town", "Jingdong Urban Hub", "One Stop Beijing", "25km east of Beijing Municipal Government"...New City in the north of Xianghe and Anping Because the town is close to the highway entrance, it has become the first choice area for foreign buyers to buy houses. Local real estate projects strive to express the relationship between the real estate and Beijing in their advertising, and even the telephone numbers of some real estate sales offices will start with "010".

In some real estate sales offices in Xianghe, in addition to cars with local license plates, you can also see many cars with Beijing license plates. According to local real estate agents, since the epidemic eased this year, the number of customers viewing and buying houses has gradually increased, with the majority of them coming from Beijing. In comparison, local Xianghe home buyers would prefer to choose the familiar old town.

The sales staff of a project in the northern new city told reporters that after the purchase restriction policy was introduced in 2017, the number of people buying houses dropped a lot that year. Until this year, the purchase restrictions were "quietly relaxed" and more people bought houses.

In the first half of 2017, housing prices in Xianghe once exceeded 20,000 yuan per square meter, and then plummeted. Now, after rising, the unit price is only over 10,000 yuan.

During the peak period of local housing prices, many real estate speculators were attracted. A local taxi driver told a reporter that he had heard of someone jumping off a building after failing to speculate in real estate because he could not afford a mortgage that was far beyond his ability. He had heard this story more than once. But after the purchase restriction, there weren’t many people speculating on real estate, and they basically bought it to live in.

Zhuge housing search data shows that the transaction volume of the Xianghe property market this year fell to the bottom in February during the epidemic, and then climbed for four consecutive months. By June, it reached the highest point this year of 664 units, and then in July It dropped slightly to 601 units.

However, local housing prices have not risen with the rebound in transaction volume. In the past four months, the average house price in Xianghe has fluctuated slightly between 10,100 and 10,500 yuan per square meter, which is roughly the same as the same period last year.

At the same time, a large number of houses in Xianghe have been sold for many years. The land for the Lion City project in Anping Town was acquired six years ago. Now, all 15 buildings in the community have been built into existing houses, but the houses have not yet been sold out. According to its sales staff, there are still nearly 100 units for sale in this project. "It will basically take another month to start the decoration after completing the house purchase procedures." The sales staff led the reporter to see a set of middle floors in the community. Rough housing has been built, but the occupancy rate in the building is not high.

In addition to conventional real estate projects, senior care projects also appear in many real estate market competitions in Xianghe. The DaAi City project located at the Xianghe East Exit of the Beijing-Harbin Expressway uses elderly care products as its selling point. According to the salesperson of the project, many of its customers are elderly people and their children from Beijing. Similarly, the second phase of the Da Ai City project has been on sale for several years and has begun to be marketed to “all age groups”.

The reporter later called the sales office of the Da Ai City project. Its staff introduced to the reporter that the project mainly caters to Beijing’s elderly care needs and needs to meet retirement age, household registration and other requirements. The reporter expressed a request for further interviews, and the other party noted down the reporter’s contact information and said he would give feedback to his superiors before replying, but the reporter did not receive any further response.

The Lion City project development company is Xianghe Zhongan Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. The reporter contacted the company, and the staff of the other party said that the interview questions had been transferred to the public relations department, but the reporter did not receive a reply afterwards.

Yan Yuejin, research director of the Think Tank Center of E-House Research Institute, told reporters that the Xianghe property market had cooled down in the past two years, and now it has basically stepped out of the cooling channel and started to slowly rise, but there is not much room for a strong rebound now. If traffic conditions further improve in the future, the demand for real estate in Xianghe will still be attractive, at least it will not continue to fall.

"Eight-year sales restriction" Maoer Ni

In the view of Xianghe real estate sales staff, the reason why the property market here has been able to recover is related to the recent "relaxation of purchase restrictions" . There had been rumors in the market for a long time about the operation method of "delaying registration for three years" to break the purchase limit, but now in the eyes of local sales staff, that operation method is outdated.

According to the purchase restriction regulations issued by Langfang City in 2017, buying a house locally requires a local household registration or a three-year social security and tax certificate. On the promotional posters of some real estate projects, you can still see the notice "Only for customers who are qualified to purchase houses." But according to the project sales staff, the above-mentioned purchase restriction policy is no longer an obstacle.

Zizaicheng project sales staff told reporters that as long as foreign buyers have a college degree or above and use the "talent introduction" channel, they can directly purchase a house in Xianghe.

After visiting multiple real estate properties, the reporter got basically the same answer: if the home buyer has a college degree or above and provides an ID card, household registration booklet, and credit report, the developer will help with the home purchase qualifications.

The reporter noticed that in addition, an additional agreement needs to be signed. According to local project sales staff, foreign home buyers will need to sign an "eight-year sales restriction" agreement, which guarantees that the house will not be sold within eight years after purchasing the house as a promise to "not speculate on real estate." According to reports, such sales restriction requirements will not be written into the house purchase contract and will not be actually binding. "In fact, no one cares whether you sell it in the future." The salesperson explained.

In addition to new houses, the "eight-year sales restriction" agreement can also be heard in the second-hand housing market. A real estate agent in Xianghe Old Town told reporters that when buying a second-hand house, you also need to sign an agreement promising not to sell the house within eight years. But he also added that such an agreement is actually preparation for inspections and may not actually affect the sale of the house again.

Xianghe County’s official announcement on home purchase qualifications shows that non-local registered resident households need to provide local three-year social security certificates or tax payment certificates, but the reporter did not see “talent introduction” and “eight years” in the official documents. "Restricted Sale" related instructions.

The reporter came to the Xianghe Convenience Service Center to inquire about policies related to home purchase as a home buyer. Under the guidance of the staff, the reporter found the office of the real estate trading center. One of the staff confirmed to the reporter, "There must be an (eight-year sales restriction agreement), but it means that you are not allowed to sell it for less than eight years. At the same time, there is also a Beijing Work certificate from Tongzhou or Xianghe, college degree or above. "According to his introduction, only Tongzhou District in Beijing is eligible, but other districts are not eligible.

The reporter later called the Development Office of the Xianghe County Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau for an interview, but the other party’s staff denied the existence of the “eight-year sales restriction” agreement. "We have not seen such a document. The purchase restriction policy has not been adjusted recently. Buying a house still requires a local household registration or local three-year social security and tax payment."

Zizaicheng project development company Xianghe County Huayu Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. In response to a reporter's interview, the company stated that the qualifications for purchasing the project are subject to relevant national policies.