(Yicai) Oct. 15 — A property project in Shenzhen has sold out on its first day of presales, becoming the first in the southern Chinese city since the central government’s introduction of the stimulus package to support economic growth and promote the recovery of the real estate industry.
The project, located in Longhua suburban district, received 744 reservations on Oct. 13 despite having only 322 available apartments, Yicai learned from people familiar with the matter. The average price per square meter was CNY76,000 (USD10,700), with apartments sold at CNY6 million to CNY8.9 million (USD844,120 to USD1.3 million).
On Sept. 24, China introduced policies to support the real estate industry, including lowering mortgage rates to levels close to those for new loans and reducing the minimum down payment for second homes to 15 percent from 25 percent. Later, Shenzhen allowed non-permanent residents to buy properties in the city and optimized its zone-based home purchase curbs, permitting eligible individuals to buy more than one apartment in non-core areas, including Longhua.
The project was sold out quickly for several reasons, including its proximity to a premium middle school and Shenzhen North Railway Station and the sales price per sqm being below the average of nearby pre-owned homes of CNY80,000 to CNY110,000 (USD11,260 to USD15,480), a real estate agent based on the same block as the project told Yicai.
The lifting of home purchase restrictions by the local government also contributed to the quick sale of the project, the agent added. In fact, with the old policy, people without a local permanent residence permit were not allowed to buy houses in large cities like Shenzhen.
The development rights of the project were acquired by Shum Yip Group, a firm under the Shenzhen administration, in June last year.
Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione