The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban Rural Development and six other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Optimizing and Adjusting the Real Estate Policy Measures in the City" on the 25th, which will be implemented from August 26, 2025. This new policy includes reducing housing purchase restrictions, optimizing housing provident fund, optimizing personal housing credit, and improving personal housing property tax. Experts generally believe that the new policy has a wide coverage, and both the first-time homebuyers and those with improved needs can effectively enjoy the benefits of buying a house. This will further release reasonable housing demand and help the Shanghai real estate market consolidate its stable and positive development trend. The new policy of optimizing purchase restrictions has significantly adjusted the housing purchase restriction policy in Shanghai, and eligible households are not limited to the number of units they can purchase outside the outer ring road. Specifically, there is no limit on the number of houses purchased outside the Outer Ring Road for resident families that meet the city's housing purchase conditions, including registered residence households in the city, non registered residence households that have continuously paid social insurance or personal income tax in the city for one year or more, including new commercial houses and second-hand houses. At the same time, adult single individuals are subject to the housing purchase restriction policy for residential households. Families of Shanghai residents and adult single individuals of Shanghai origin are not limited in the number of units they can purchase outside the outer ring road; Limit the purchase of 2 housing units within the outer ring. Non Shanghai resident families and non Shanghai adult single individuals who have continuously paid social insurance or personal income tax in this city for at least one year before the date of purchase are not limited to purchasing housing outside the outer ring road. Shanghai Zhongyuan Real Estate analyst Lu Wenxi pointed out that the optimization of purchase restrictions is expected to further alleviate structural imbalances. At present, the Shanghai real estate market is generally stable, but there are structural differences, and there is still some pressure to reduce inventory outside the outer ring of new houses in Shanghai. This policy will continue to make precise efforts, opening up the housing purchase quota for areas outside the outer ring, which can release purchasing power and help further reduce inventory. There are currently many replacement buyers, mainly constrained by property tickets, especially for single buyers from other places. Often times, old properties cannot be sold and new properties cannot be purchased. Having an additional property ticket allows for buying before selling, reducing selling pressure and easing the possibility of a rapid decline in second-hand housing prices. ”Lu Wenxi further pointed out. Optimization of Housing Provident Fund Policy: In terms of housing provident fund policy, the new policy proposes three optimization measures to increase the support of housing consumption by housing provident fund. Increase the personal housing provident fund loan limit. For depositors who purchase newly-built green buildings of two stars or above, the maximum loan amount for housing provident fund (including supplementary provident fund) will be increased by 15%. The maximum loan amount for the first home has been increased from 1.6 million yuan to 1.84 million yuan, and the upward ratio of the first home for families with multiple children can be calculated cumulatively, increasing from 1.92 million yuan to 2.16 million yuan; The maximum loan amount for the second installment has been increased from 1.3 million yuan to 1.495 million yuan. Support the withdrawal of housing provident fund to pay the down payment for purchasing a house. For depositors who purchase newly-built pre-sale commodity housing in Shanghai, they can apply to withdraw their own and their spouse's housing provident fund to pay the down payment for the purchase according to regulations. Supporting the housing provident fund through both raising and lending. If the depositor withdraws the housing provident fund to pay the down payment for purchasing a house, it does not affect the calculation of their housing provident fund loan amount. Yan Yuejin, Vice President of Shanghai E-house Research Institute, analyzed that such policies will better leverage the supporting role of housing provident fund in various fields of home purchase, especially by directly reducing the pressure of down payment collection. Specifically, he pointed out that allowing the withdrawal of housing provident fund means that homebuyers have a richer source of down payment. Taking the housing loan policy with a price of 5 million yuan and a down payment ratio of 15% as an example, the down payment is 750000 yuan. The buyer's withdrawal of housing provident fund can better raise the down payment, while the housing provident fund loan amount is still not affected. It not only reduces related costs, but also better compresses the time for raising down payments, which has a positive effect on accelerating transaction pace and promoting the release of housing consumption demand. The green buildings mentioned this time account for about 60% of the new houses in the city, indicating that the policy benefits a wide range and supports the development of green buildings. This also aligns well with the national concept of safe, comfortable, green, and smart houses, promoting better attention to green buildings from both the supply and demand sides. ”Yan Yuejin emphasized. Optimization of Housing Credit and Property Tax: In terms of commercial personal housing loans, the new policy clarifies that banking and financial institutions will no longer distinguish between first and second homes in terms of interest rate pricing mechanism arrangements, and reasonably determine the specific interest rate level for each loan based on the requirements of Shanghai's market interest rate pricing self-discipline mechanism, their own operating conditions, customer risk status, and other factors. With regard to individual housing property tax, the new policy stipulates that the first housing purchased by eligible non registered residence households is temporarily exempt from property tax. After calculating the total housing area of the household, a tax-free area deduction of 60 square meters per capita will be given for the purchase of the second and above housing units. Due to the annual collection of personal housing property tax, eligible homebuyers can enjoy this policy from January 1, 2025. In Lu Wenxi's opinion, the current hot spot for improving the high-end market in Shanghai is relatively high, and there are many cases where projects worth over 100000 yuan are sold out when they are launched. The support of financial policies can sustain the popularity of these products. High end improvements often become market indicators, and smooth sales contribute to stable and sustained optimism about Shanghai's future development. Yan Yuejin pointed out that the new policy in Shanghai has a wide range of benefits, especially for single people to buy houses and houses outside the outer ring, which will have a positive effect. It will also play a positive role in the new round of policy adjustment and optimization and market development nationwide. After the policy is implemented, it can not only effectively release a wave of housing demand, but also help to change the market's wait-and-see attitude. The timing of this policy is particularly crucial, coinciding with the traditional peak sales season of gold, silver, and silver. With the support of the policy, the 'purity' of real estate transactions will be strongly guaranteed. ”Lu Wenxi stated. (New Society)