Can’t do it without Ni
Policymakers may announce another round of support for the property sector soon.
On Thursday, housing minister (MoHURD) Ni Hong will deliver a presser on “promoting the stable and healthy development of the property market.”
- Officials from the central bank (PBoC), finance ministry (MoF), resources ministry (MNR), and financial regulator (NFRA) will also attend.
ICYMI: The late-September Politburo meeting vowed to halt the property sector’s decline. Since then, various government agencies have released measures, including:
- Lowering down payments for multi-home buyers (PBoC)
- Accelerating state-funded acquisition of unsold housing (PBoC, MoF)
- Pushing “whitelist” bank lending to distressed developers (NFRA)
- Allowing local governments to issue special-purpose bonds to fund land buybacks (MoF)
Ni’s remarks merit attention, not least because MoHURD is the principal ministry overseeing housing policies and regulations.
- The ministry plays a critical role in shaping housing demand through homebuyer restrictions and property price controls.
Get smart: We aren’t expecting Ni to unveil any groundbreaking fixes to the property slump, such as a nationwide removal of price controls.
- Instead, he will likely affirm the Politburo’s directive to give localities more autonomy in adjusting local housing policies, and provide more clarity on initiatives introduced by other ministries.
Still, we are prepared to be surprised: Beijing’s recent policy blitz suggests it wants all hands on deck to stem the property decline.