Li_DanLi_Dan ・ Oct. 18, 2024
China's Property Stocks Retreat Despite New Stimulus Unveiled to Boost Market
Most of the moves under the new policy mix echoed previous efforts to prop up the property sector. To expand the loan for "white list" property projects to more than $560 billion won't help reduce excess property inventory or lift expectations about home prices.

TMTPost -- Shares of China’s property developers failed to maintain their rally Thursday as the new policy mix unveiled at a government press briefing seems not as aggressive as expected.

Credit:Xinhua News Agency

Credit:Xinhua News Agency

The mainland China's CSI 300 Real Estate index ended nearly 7.9% lower after a gain of 5.1% Wednesday ahead of a new press on housing Thursday sparking investors’  hope of fresh stimulus. The Hong Kong's Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index closed 6.7% lower Thursday, wiping out a gain of 3.4% a day earlier. Shanghai-listed shares of Gemdale Corporation, Langold Real Estate and Cinda Real Estate fell 10%, 7.2% and 3.7%, respectively, after all of them hit their daily trading limit with a gain of around 10% Wednesday. Hong Kong-traded shares of Ronshine China tumbled 29%, erasing some of their 121.4% rally Wednesday, while shares of Sunac, Kaisa, Guangzhou R&F Properties and Vanke shed 23.4%, 22.2%, 22.1% and 16.3%, respectively, after surging around 19% to 40% Wednesday. 

China’s property shares retreated the day five government agencies jointly announced their upcoming property stimulus. To sum up, the new policy mix consists of two expansions, four reductions and four removals, said Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) Ni Hong.

Two expansions means to ramp up efforts for two different initiatives. One is to step up support for urban village and dilapidated housing renovation projects. Ni said China will complete the renovation of an additional 1 million such housing units by providing monetary compensation to residents. Another is to boost funding for property projects. Ni stressed all eligible real estate projects will be included in the "white list" mechanism and that their reasonable financing needs will be met through loans.

Under the "white list" mechanism launched in January, local authorities are recommending that financial institutions provide financial support to eligible real estate projects. It is expected that by the end of this year, the approved loan amount for "white list" projects will double to over RMB4 trillion (US$561.6 billion), Xiao Yuanqi, deputy head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, said at the press conference. As of October 16, loans approved for the "white list" real estate projects have reached RMB2.23 trillion,  Xiao said.

Four reductions means to reduce interest rates for existing home loans, the mortgage rates for first homes and second homes,  the minimum down payment ratios for individuals' commercial housing mortgages, and to lower tax burdens on home buyers for housing trade-in, namely, the families to swap their old houses for better ones. Four removals involve specific policies introduced by various cities that are tailored to local conditions, such as removing all restrictions on the eligibility and quantity of property purchases, as well as the time limit for selling houses after purchase.

The policy mix didn’t inspire some analysts since most of the aforementioned moves echoed previous efforts by policymakers to prop up the property sector. The expanded “white list” and the loan-disbursement target sound encouraging, but will provide little additional funding to the sector or bolster home-buying sentiment, Zerlina Zeng, senior director at CreditSights, commented.  

“This is because the proceeds of the loans will be parked at the escrow accounts and cannot be used to service debt or fund new projects,” she said. “The aim of the white list is to accelerate the construction of pre-sold but incomplete homes,” so its expansion won’t help reduce China’s excess property inventory or lift expectations about home prices, she added.

“While it cannot be said that no new policy measures have been introduced at all, they can hardly make the market feel any real breakthrough has been made,” said Shen Meng, a director at Beijing-based boutique investment bank Chanson & Co.

“Equity investors are looking for big headline numbers to drive stocks up further, while the government is more focused on bringing the economy and housing markets gradually back to health,” said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee. “As long as there’s such a mismatch in expectations, all press briefings will inevitably be disappointing.”

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