Both prices and transaction levels for some of the most coveted apartment developments in the Chinese capital have plunged in the year following the launch of real estate purchasing restrictions by the municipal government.
In March of last year the Beijing municipal government launched property market control policies, triggering concerns within the local real estate sector that they would result in a sharp decline in both transactions and prices.
These concerns have come to pass for a number of high-end residential apartment developments that previously ranked amongst the most coveted properties in Beijing.
According to a report from China Central Television, Lincoln Park in the town of Yizhuang ((亦庄地区) )was once one of the most popular apartment developments in Beijing, due to its proximity to transportation facilities as well as the Beijing Economic and Technical Development Area.
The apartment complex has seen transactions post a year-on-year drop of 89.5% in the year following the launch of Beijing’s real estate control policies, to just 107 units during the period from 2017 to 26 March 2018, as compared to 1022 the year previously.
Beijing’s property market controls have had a similar impact on the Beijing Xiangsu (北京像素) development in the central district of Chaoyang, which is one of the city’s best known mixed residential-commercial developments.
While prices for the complex’s two-floor loft-style units rose to as high as 65,000 yuan per square metre prior to the launch of Beijing’s property market controls, they have since fallen to around 40,000 yuan, while price for single-floor units have dropped to 30,000 yuan.
The property market controls launched by Beijing on 26 March 2017 placed onerous conditions on the purchase of commercial and office property in the city.
These includes the requirement that full sums be paid, a ban on the use of any form of bank loan including consumer loans for purchasing, as well as the requirement that purchasers have social security or tax payment records in Beijing for at least 60 consecutive months, irrespective of their household registration status.
