In recent years, the restrictive measures for home purchases in the four major first tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have been continuously optimized. On August 9th, the "Notice on Further Optimizing and Adjusting Real Estate Related Policies in this City" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") issued by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban Rural Development (hereinafter referred to as the "Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban Rural Development") and the Beijing Housing Provident Fund Management Center came into effect. Industry insiders believe that as a "barometer" for tailored policies, the optimization of Beijing's real estate policies has signaling significance, and it is expected that more cities will follow suit in the future. Restrictive measures are constantly being optimized. Among the four major first tier cities, Guangzhou fully lifted the purchase restriction policy in September last year. After the lifting of purchase restrictions, the real estate market in Guangzhou has shown active performance. According to data from the Guangzhou Real Estate Intermediary Association, from January to July 2025, a total of 65575 second-hand residential properties and 6.5791 million square meters were signed online in Guangzhou, an increase of 9.03% and 9.02% year-on-year, respectively. At present, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen still have certain restrictions on the registered residence of house buyers, the number of years to pay social insurance or individual income tax, the number of houses to buy, and the area to buy houses. To be specific, after Shenzhen optimized the zoning housing purchase restriction policy last September, non registered residence households and adult single people in Shenzhen purchased houses in Futian District, Luohu District, Nanshan District, and Xin'an Street and Xixiang Street of Bao'an District, they still need to provide the certificate of continuous payment of individual income tax or social insurance in the city one year before the date of purchase. In September last year, Shanghai also relaxed the restrictions on non registered residence households and single people to purchase houses outside the Outer Ring Road, and adjusted the number of years required to pay social insurance or individual income tax to one year or more before the date of purchase. For homebuyers who purchase houses within the outer ring, their payment period for social insurance or personal income tax still needs to be 3 years or more. The Notice issued in Beijing clearly states that there is no limit on the number of commercial housing purchased outside the Fifth Ring Road (including new commercial housing and second-hand housing) by resident families that meet the conditions for purchasing commercial housing in this city (including registered residence resident families in this city, non registered residence resident families that have continuously paid social insurance or personal income tax in this city for relevant years). Currently, the core areas of Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen still have purchase restrictions, while the peripheral areas are conditionally opened up. Since the beginning of this year, there has been sales pressure on peripheral projects in Beijing and Shanghai, which has opened up space and possibilities for administrative restrictions to gradually withdraw from the market. ”Yang Kewei, Deputy General Manager of CRIC Research Center, said. Chen Wenjing, Director of Policy Research at Zhongzhi Research Institute, believes that after the optimization of Beijing's real estate policy, it is expected that more cities will follow suit in the future, and Shanghai and Shenzhen are also expected to further optimize their purchase restriction policies and increase support for housing provident fund. It is worth noting that the "Notice" has optimized the purchase restriction policy for areas outside the Fifth Ring Road, while the policy for households to purchase commercial housing within the Fifth Ring Road remains unchanged. Chen Wenjing stated that the optimization of Beijing's purchase restriction policy this time further reflects the gradual adjustment of the purchase restriction policy. Relaxing the restrictions on the number of home purchases outside the Fifth Ring Road for eligible families, allowing those who have the ability, willingness, and need to enter the market, can directly benefit the market outside the Fifth Ring Road, promote market recovery, and better support the balance between work and housing. Currently, the real estate market outside of the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing is active in transactions. According to data from the Zhongzhi Research Institute, from January to July this year, more than 80% of the newly built residential properties sold in Beijing were located outside the Fifth Ring Road, making it the absolute main area for transactions in the new housing market. The proportion of second-hand residential properties sold outside the Fifth Ring Road also exceeded 50%. Yang Kewei analyzed that in recent years, the supply of new houses outside the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing has been concentrated and will continue to be the main force for land supply in the future. After the adjustment of the purchase restriction policy, the pressure to sell some high inventory sectors will be alleviated. Previously, Beijing had optimized the purchase restriction policy outside the Fifth Ring Road. On April 30 last year, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban Rural Development issued the Notice on Optimizing and Adjusting the Housing Purchase Restriction Policy in Beijing, which allows residents with registered residence who have owned two houses in Beijing, adult single registered residence who have owned one house in Beijing and other groups to purchase a new commercial housing outside the Fifth Ring Road. According to data from CRIC, after policy adjustments at the end of April 2024, the transaction volume of second-hand houses outside the Fifth Ring Road increased by 33% year-on-year. Yang Kewei expects that after the "Notice" further relaxes the purchase restrictions outside the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing, most new housing projects outside the Fifth Ring Road will directly benefit. By implementing a differentiated strategy of strict control in the core area and loosening restrictions in the suburbs, not only can we meet the reasonable demand for self occupied housing, but we can also alleviate inventory pressure and serve strategic goals such as population evacuation and regional coordination. Yan Yuejin, Vice President of Shanghai E-house Real Estate Research Institute, stated that in the future, various regions need to further explore potential housing demand. In addition to supporting the demand for housing that balances work and residence, various regions should also focus on market demands such as single older youth and "old to young" residents. In addition, various regions should continue to pay attention to the digestion of the number of second-hand housing listings, promote the rebalancing of market supply and demand, and further stabilize the real estate market. (New Society)