Boost the property market and buy houses in many cities to settle down

First-tier cities "buy a house and get a hukou"? Recently, Nansha District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, has reported that you can "settle down" if you buy a house. Although as of press time, the official has not publicly released the relevant policy adjustment notice, but the real estate market has been moved.

　　According to the statistics of the China Index Research Institute, more than 10 cities have introduced policies this year that you can settle down when you buy a house or apply for settlement, including a number of new first-tier cities and second-tier cities.

　　The interviewed experts said that the "relaxation" of household registration policies in many places to boost property market transactions is undoubtedly a win-win change. Next, city managers need to deal with issues such as improving the carrying capacity of cities, distributing public resources fairly, and maintaining social security and stability.

　　The "flower card" in Huadu District, Guangzhou City is not equal to the household registration

　　Recently, a news has been widely spread in the Guangzhou property market: the purchase restriction on commercial housing in Nansha District has been fully lifted, and Nansha District is no longer included in the scope of the purchase restriction area; The purchase of commercial housing in Nansha District can be directly settled, and it is not allowed to move across districts within the city within 3 years.

　　Nansha District, Guangzhou, like Liwan District, Yuexiu District, Tianhe District and other urban districts, is a restricted urban area. Households that are not registered residents of Guangzhou can only enjoy the treatment of purchasing houses if they can provide proof of continuous payment of individual income tax or social insurance in the city within the first 6 months from the date of purchase of the house.

　　In response to the rumors that you can "settle down" by buying a house in Nansha District, on September 19, the relevant staff of the Nansha District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau responded to media interviews and said that at present, Nansha District has not issued a policy of being able to directly enter Nansha after buying commercial housing.

　　Although the rumor has not been officially confirmed, it has caused volatility in the real estate market. A real estate agent in Guangzhou said: "If you can't buy a house because of the false reason of the 'cancel the purchase restriction' policy, you can check out even if you pay the down payment and deposit." ”

　　It's not for nothing that real estate agents and real estate agents are actively preparing. At the beginning of August, the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Huadu District, Guangzhou issued the "Several Measures to Further Promote the Stable and Healthy Development of the Real Estate Market", which proposed that non-Guangzhou household registration personnel who purchase newly built commercial housing in Huadu District can receive Huadu "flower card", and enjoy the district's policy care and enrollment treatment with Huadu "flower card" and house purchase contract.

　　After the news was issued, some people interpreted it as Huadu District's "buy a house to settle down" policy, but a reporter from China City Daily found that Huadu District specifically stated on its government website that buying a house and receiving a Huadu "flower card" does not mean buying a house and settling down, and does not enjoy other household registration benefits such as motor vehicle lottery.

　　In addition, in response to the public's concern about the children's education rights attached to the "flower card", the Huadu District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau responded: "The school-age children of the holders of the 'flower card' can participate in the enrollment of public kindergartens in the region; The specific enrollment policy is subject to the latest policy announced by the district education department in that year. The pre-school and compulsory education stages only accept applications for the first grade, and do not accept transfer applications. ”

　　The new first-tier cities have increased their efforts to purchase houses and settle down

　　For most people, buying a house is not only about having a livable space, but also about investing in the future and pursuing a stable life. This year, many new first-tier cities have sounded the clarion call for "buying a house and settling down".

　　On May 9, the Office of the Leading Group for the Steady and Healthy Development of the Real Estate Market in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province issued the "Notice on Optimizing and Adjusting the Real Estate Market Regulation and Control Policies", proposing that as long as you obtain legal property rights in Hangzhou, you can apply for settlement, and you are no longer restricted by academic qualifications.

　　The next day, the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province issued the Notice on Matters Concerning the Settlement of Legal and Stable Residences, which stipulates that persons who have a legal and stable residence (i.e., housing with legal property rights) in urban areas of the city can apply for their own household registration to move into the housing, and their spouses, unmarried children, and parents (who have exceeded the statutory retirement age or have gone through retirement procedures) can apply for household registration to move with them.

　　On June 25, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, issued a notice clarifying that non-Suzhou household registration personnel who actually live in the administrative area of Suzhou, who meet one of the conditions for owning the city's legal property right housing, purchasing the city's newly built commercial housing and completing the online signature filing, can apply for household registration to move into the owned or purchased housing, and their spouses, unmarried children, and parents can apply for household registration to move with them.

　　Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, is the first sub-provincial capital city in the country where you can settle down by renting a house. For those who were originally worried about settling in Shenyang due to household registration issues, this policy is undoubtedly a "reassuring pill". At the same time, the increase in population means that the potential demand for housing is also accumulating, and some of these renters may become buyers after a period of accumulation.

　　Li Yujia, chief researcher of the Guangdong Provincial Housing Policy Research Center, said in an interview with a reporter from China City Daily that whether it is a house purchase or a rental house, it is aimed at implementing the national new urbanization strategy.

　　The reporter noted that the "Five-Year Action Plan for the In-depth Implementation of the People-Oriented New Urbanization Strategy" issued by the State Council proposes to fully implement the requirements for canceling the settlement restrictions in cities with a permanent population of less than 3 million in urban areas, comprehensively relax the settlement conditions in cities with a permanent population of 3 million to 5 million in urban areas, and improve the points settlement policy for super megacities with a permanent population of more than 5 million in urban areas, and encourage the cancellation of annual settlement quota restrictions.

　　"This move not only creates favorable conditions for the destocking of commercial housing, but more importantly, it will help enhance the attractiveness of the city, attract more talent inflow, and lay a solid demographic foundation for the growth of domestic demand and the prosperity of the consumer market." Li Yujia said.

　　Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, holds a similar view. In an interview with a reporter from China City Daily, he said that with the increasing urbanization rate and the challenges of an aging population, cities need to attract and retain talent to meet the needs of supporting economic growth and social services. At the same time, the real estate market in some cities is facing inventory pressure, and the demand can be activated through the housing purchase and settlement policy.

　　According to incomplete statistics from a reporter from China City Daily, among the megacities with a permanent population of more than 10 million in the country, new first-tier cities such as Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Dongguan City in Guangdong Province, and Wuhan City in Hubei Province have all introduced relevant policies to support residents to buy houses and settle down; Megacities with a permanent population of more than 5 million people, such as Nanchang City in Jiangxi Province and Harbin City in Heilongjiang Province, have basically achieved "zero threshold" settlement; Cities with a permanent population of no more than 3 million have been almost fully liberalized.

　　"On the whole, the current settlement conditions in most cities have been relatively relaxed, and it is expected that the follow-up housing purchase settlement policy may be promoted in more cities." Chen Wenjing, director of market research at the China Index Research Institute, said in an interview with a reporter from China City Daily.

　　There are traces of the policy of buying houses and settling down

　　In fact, the policy of buying a house and settling down is not a new measure. A reporter from China City Daily checked relevant information and found that in the early 90s of the 20th century, the mainland real estate market was just starting, and the eastern coastal areas were particularly active, but the market was sluggish and the vacancy rate of commercial housing remained high, which became a problem for local governments.

　　In order to stimulate the real estate market, promote economic development, and alleviate the contradiction between the "rural to non-farming" index and the large number of rural people who want to settle in the city, the blue-print hukou policy came into being.

　　During this period, the emergence of the blue-print hukou policy not only profoundly affected the city's population flow pattern, but also injected strong impetus into the vigorous development of the real estate market, leaving a strong mark.

　　For example, in 1999, in order to reduce the backlog of vacant commercial housing, Guangzhou implemented the policy of sending a blue-printed household registration for house purchases. This move attracted a large number of immigrants to buy houses, which made the property market with an overstock of inventory quickly activate.

　　In 1998, the Interim Regulations on the Administration of Blue Seal Household Registrations in Shanghai Municipality proposed that individuals from other provinces and municipalities who purchase commercial housing in Shanghai and whose construction area or total house price meets certain standards may apply for one blue seal household registration for themselves, their spouses, and their immediate family members.

　　"At that time, if you buy a house with a total price of 350,000 yuan in the city center, or a house with a total price of 180,000 yuan in Minhang District, Baoshan District, and Jiading District, you can get a blue seal account." Mr. Zhu, a citizen of Shanghai, recalled in an interview with a reporter from China City Daily.

　　Since then, with the continuous advancement of the household registration system, at the beginning of the 21st century, the blue-print household registration has completed the mission of the times and gradually withdrawn from the historical stage.

　　There is a view that, similar to the logic of many years ago, many cities now launch "buy a house and get a household registration", which can also reduce the pressure on commercial housing inventory and improve the urban population concentration to a certain extent.

　　Expert: There is a downward trend in the "gold content" of household registration in big cities

　　Recently, the Information Office of the State Council held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Promoting High-quality Development", and Qi Yanjun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Public Security in charge of daily work, introduced that since 2014, a total of 150 million agricultural migrants have settled in cities in a stable and orderly manner, and the urbanization rate of the national registered population has increased from 35.9% in 2014 to 48.3% in 2023.

　　At the same time, by the end of 2023, the urbanization rate of the permanent urban population in mainland China was 66.16%.

　　As the mainland continues to deepen the reform of the hukou system and gradually relax the restrictions on household registration, the gap between the two data will gradually narrow in the future.

　　It is worth noting that a reporter from China City Daily found that the willingness of villagers to settle in cities and towns in some places has declined. This trend is not unique to northern China, and Li Yujia observed a similar phenomenon during his research in Guizhou Province.

　　In this regard, Li Yujia believes that on the one hand, the cost of living in the city is high, and the rate of return on children's education in the city has declined; On the other hand, compared with the past, the preferential policies and benefits enjoyed by rural hukou are now increasing.

　　"Taken together, many people are not necessarily willing to settle in the city when faced with the choice of household registration." He said.

　　In Bai Wenxi's view, with the increase in urbanization rate, people's demand for urban hukou may be more focused on access to public services such as education and medical care. Moreover, with the reform of the hukou system and the more equalization of public services, the "gold content" of the hukou may decline.

　　Financial commentator Liu Xiaobo wrote an analysis: "There will be fewer and fewer people who buy a house in order to get a big city hukou, unless this city is the same as Tianjin, there are college entrance examination dividends, otherwise it is not very attractive." ”

　　In the interviews, most of the respondents said that they would prefer to have a job with a decent income and live a stable and secure life in the city rather than the status of "city people" brought about by a paper hukou.

　　It is foreseeable that whether it is to buy a house or rent a house or settle down with a "zero threshold", the competition for talents between cities in the future is no longer limited to the simple competition of the household registration system. After completing the sprint of "grabbing people" through household registration, all localities will also run a "long-distance run" to strengthen the industrial economy and improve people's livelihood and well-being.

■China City Daily reporter Zheng Xinyu