Beijing widens home-buying eligibility as property slump persists
Beijing relaxes home-buying curbs for non-locals and raises provident fund loan limits to support the ailing property sector.
Beijing's municipal government has announced a fresh round of measures to ease restrictions on home purchases, marking the latest attempt to stabilise a property market that has been in decline for five years.
From August 8, non-Beijing residents will be able to buy homes anywhere in the capital after just one year of consecutive income tax payments or social insurance contributions in the city — halving the previous two-year requirement. The relaxation extends to properties within the Fifth Ring Road, an area that had been excluded from earlier rounds of loosening.
The announcement also raises the ceiling for housing provident fund loans. Individual buyers of a first home can now borrow up to 1.2 million yuan (about $178,000), while dual-income households can access up to 2.4 million yuan. Additional top-ups of up to 600,000 yuan and 1 million yuan are available for purchases in outer districts, green-certified housing, or families with two or more children.
The property sector, which at its peak accounted for a quarter of China's economic output, has been weighed down by a debt crisis since mid-2021. The prolonged slump has constrained household spending and widened the gap between strong industrial production and weak domestic demand, keeping housing policy at the centre of government efforts to revive growth.