Zhejiang lifts funding support for homebuyers

Zhejiang provincial authorities have recently introduced a raft of supportive measures in a bid to boost demand from local homebuyers, which is part of the local government's efforts to optimize regulations and policies.

In Haiyan, under Zhejiang province's Jiaxing city, the local provident housing fund management center has recently, using credits from the public provident fund, or PPF, launched seven types of personal credit products through data sharing and credit cooperation to provide more housing loan options for white-collar workers and depositors.

"It's very convenient as all PPF applications can now be processed and handled through a WeChat mini program under the online government service platform after I input the required information," said Wang Xiaotian, who is from outside Haiyan and purchased an apartment in the county, obtaining the housing loan locally.

A credit limit of 545 million yuan ($75.3 million) has been granted to depositors in Haiyan, improving the convenience and housing purchasing enthusiasm for depositors both locally and from outside the county.

Numerous policies have been announced since the tone-setting meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on July 24. At the crucial meeting, it was decided that property policies should be adjusted and optimized promptly to make good use of targeted policies in different cities, considering the fundamental changes in the demand-supply situation in the real estate sector.

"We hope to roll out more innovative and service-oriented measures to better meet the demands of depositors," said Zhang Yong, deputy director of the Jiaxing Municipal Housing Provident Fund Management Center.

In Jinhua, central Zhejiang, the local authorities announced on Thursday that starting three days later, the maximum loan amount of the housing provident fund will be marginally increased, further enhancing support for home purchases and better meeting the rigid and improved housing needs of Jinhua's residents, promoting the healthy and stable development of the local real estate market.

Under the new policy, for first-time buyers, the loan limit for depositors has been raised from 400,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan for single individuals and from 800,000 yuan to 1 million yuan for couples. While for second-time purchases, the limit has been raised from 250,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan for single individuals and from 500,000 yuan to 600,000 yuan for couples.

Such measures should be deemed good examples of lowering residents' home purchasing costs, demonstrating that local governments at all levels have been active in carrying out and streamlining related home-buying policies in line with the central leadership's guidance, said Yan Yuejin, director of the E-house China Research and Development Institution in Shanghai.

Statistics from the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development show that last year, a total of 192,100 personal housing provident fund loans were granted in the province, totaling 101.87 billion yuan. Through the issuance of housing provident fund loans, home buyers saved a total of 17.125 billion yuan in interest payments.