Beijing's property market should prosper further when the municipal
government lifts the restriction on foreigners and Chinese from
outside the city buying commercial housing in the capital,
officials and experts said yesterday.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land, Resources and Housing
Management announced yesterday that it would officially lift the
distinction between commercial housing sold to local people and
that to outsiders from September 1.
Currently, foreigners and Chinese from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan
can only choose housing from a restricted selection. Mainland
Chinese without a permanent residence permit for Beijing are also
affected.
But next month these so-called outsiders will be able to choose
from all housing on the commercial market for the same cost as
local people would pay.
Beijing is the first mainland city to completely lift this
distinction, although small pilot programs have been carried out in
areas of South China's Guangdong Province.
Lin Tao, deputy manager of the Beijing office of the Japanese
company Daidoh, said: "Most of my friends regard the abolition as a
piece of good news because it allows people from outside Beijing to
choose local property from a much wider range, no longer only
restricted to a few lavish but very expensive properties in
selected areas."
But Shell Xue, China program director of Project HOPE, a US-based
international health welfare organization, said she was very
worried that the flat she bought at the price payable by outsiders
might suffer devaluation.
Sun Xiwen, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Land and Resources
Economics, said such worries may be "unnecessary if Beijing's
overall economy can continue to develop at a fast speed, attracting
more outside investors, and if the house is in an excellent
location as most of them are."
"We have not yet done careful calculations but our initial
impression is that the policy will help maintain Beijing's
real-estate prices at their present level," said Sun.
Chen Tongshun, director of the bureau's Market Management Division,
said the move was an attempt to build an open property market and
thus fulfill one of the commitments China made when it joined the
World Trade Organization last November. He dismissed speculation
that the new policy would stir Beijing's property market very
much.
"The present commercial housing aimed at outsiders will continue to
attract people who care more about comfort with unique taste and
outstanding facilities," he said.
But the change will mean a wider choice for the middle group of
mainly well-paid employees, the self-employed and owners of small
businesses, he said. "For those from outside Beijing, the change
means cheaper property," said Sun.
(China
Daily August 14, 2002)