Market for Beijing courtyards heats up

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Play VideoSiheyuan: Preserving the soul of Beijing

In an effort to encourage greater conservation and repair of Beijing's old district and its Siheyuan, or the traditional courtyard homes, the city introduced a regulation to encourage groups and individuals to buy Siheyuan in March. Driven by favorable regulations and a passionate revival of interest in the historic homes, the Siheyuan market is now flourishing.

Under the new plan, buyers actually own the real estate and have a legal right to sell, lease, mortgage, give to another or transfer it. The sale price of a Siheyuan is reached in negotiations between buyers and sellers.

Developers in Beijing say sales have increased because of the new policy. Over the past five years, the price of the traditional courtyard houses have soared to thirty thousand yuan, or about 4,500 US dollars per square meter. The price is expected to rise to even higher level given the fact that there are only approximately a thousand Siheyuan for sale in Beijing.

A real estate agency dealing in Siheyuan transactions in 2005, says some people buy out of personal interest, but most were non-Beijingers seeking a solid investment. Because of the Siheyuan's high cultural value, the profits range from one-hundred percent to two-hundred percent per sale or more.

The renovation of Siheyuan has been hotly debated in recent years. Some say they are cultural relics and the original features should be kept as much as possible. Others say that since most remaining Siheyuan are used as mass housing complexes and suffer from a lack of modern amenities, they should be updated to suit modern living standards.

To protect these historic buildings, a long-sought law to protect Beijing's historical and cultural heritage was passed by the city in 2005. The Regulation for Historical and Cultural City Protection of Beijing, which took effect on May 1st, 2005, stipulates the city will not only protect its more than 35-hundred listed heritage sites but also its unlisted sites deemed to be of significant historic or cultural value.