The local people’s congresses held ahead of the annual National People’s Congress provide an important window for observing economic and social development as well as real estate trends across various regions.
According to a review by Daily Economic News, in the deployment of real estate work for 2025 across various regions, phrases such as stabilizing and rebounding, quality housing, urban village renovation, and urban renewal have become frequent keywords.
On the morning of January 23rd, Yan Yujin, Deputy Director of the E-House China R&D Institute, said in a WeChat interview with Daily Economic News that the stabilization of the housing market has become a frequently mentioned keyword, which reflects the importance attached to the real estate market by various regions.
“In fact, in January of this year, according to our statistics, the new home sales data in many cities still increased by over 20%-30% year-on-year, which is a relatively positive sign,” Yan said.
Stabilization is the foundation for solving problems
“Promoting the stabilization and rebound of the real estate market” remains the primary goal of the housing market in 2025.
On January 15th, the 2025 Guangdong Provincial Government Work Report pointed out that continued efforts should be made to promote the stabilization and rebound of the real estate market, optimize real estate policies based on local conditions, reasonably control the supply of new real estate land, revitalize existing land and commercial and office spaces, promote the disposal of unsold commercial residential properties, improve the housing system that encourages both renting and purchasing, fully unleash the potential of rigid and improvement housing demand, and promote the construction of a new model for real estate development.
Zhejiang Province also stated that it will fully implement national policies such as lowering interest rates, reducing down payments, and reducing taxes and fees, and continue to promote the stabilization and rebound of the real estate market. The government work reports of Inner Mongolia and Shanxi also mentioned the goal of stabilization and rebound. Beijing and Hainan stated in their government work reports that they will promote the “stable and positive development” of the real estate market, while Liaoning used the phrase “stabilize and rebound”.
Yan mentioned that the stabilization of the housing market is the foundation for solving a series of problems. Since the Central Political Bureau meeting in late September last year first proposed promoting the stabilization and rebound of the real estate market, regulatory authorities have successively introduced a series of policies to stabilize the housing market. In the fourth quarter of last year, positive changes appeared in the market, with both the sales area and sales amount of newly built commercial residential buildings achieving positive growth.
With the arrival of the Spring Festival holiday, whether this positive situation can continue is worth paying attention to.
In the view of Li Yujia, Chief Researcher at the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Urban Planning’s Housing Policy Research Center, the real estate market began to bottom out in 2024, but judging from transaction data at the market level, the foundation for stabilization is not yet solid and reliable. Therefore, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed to intensify efforts to promote stabilization and rebound.
“2025 will be a critical period for stabilization and rebound. The key is whether the policies deployed earlier can be implemented. First, strictly control new supply, and whether cities with large inventories can suspend land supply and construction; second, revitalize existing land and housing sources. Currently, the scale of medium and long-term inventories is large, especially for those that have not started construction or have started but not been sold, which will have a significant impact on the market; third, implement monetary compensation for urban village renovation; and fourth, clear out excess capacity. These policies are incremental policies, different from traditional policies, but their implementation may be challenging. It requires consistent policy orientation and coordination among various ministries and commissions, the need to stimulate the vitality of market entities, the support of financial institutions, negotiation to reach a suitable price, the achievement of fund balance, restructuring to enhance market confidence, and so on,” Li further analyzed.
In the government work reports of various regions, the content related to real estate is placed under different major tasks such as preventing risks, ensuring people’s livelihoods, and promoting consumption, reflecting its unique value. For example, Fuzhou regards real estate as one of the driving forces for expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption, proposing to hold the Fuzhou Housing Exhibition to promote real estate consumption.
In addition, judging from the 2024 performance reports disclosed in the government work reports of various regions, economic development has its own highlights, and economic targets for 2025 have also been set accordingly. In terms of real estate policies, many regions have plans to continue optimizing them. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hainan, and other places have clearly stated that they will continue to optimize real estate policies, and some cities are expected to further loosen housing purchase restrictions.
