Beijingers put off home plans

On April 5, the operation management division of the People's Bank of China released a survey regarding apartment purchases by Beijing residents in the first quarter of this year, indicating that speculators accounted for 23.1 percent of the total purchasers, a record high over the past 2 years. The survey also shows that 41.58 percent of housing buyers have postponed their purchases and the number of people who intend to buy apartments in the one year’s time has declined by nearly 5 percentage points from the previous month.

14.2 percent of Beijing residents own more than 1 apartment

Since the beginning of this year, real estate regulatory agencies have promulgated control packages to curb the real estate market, in particular speculations. However, Beijing residents still showed increasing interest in home buying in the first quarter of this year, and speculators accounted for 23.1 percent of the total home buyers, which was an increase for the fourth consecutive quarter since the second quarter of 2009, up 1.8 percent month-on-month, a record high over the past 2 years.

Data also shows that the number of housing owners accounted for 71.8 percent of the surveyed people in the first quarter of this year, continuing an upward trend since 2009, up 1.8 percent month-on-month. And 14.2 percent of people polled own more than one apartment, up 1 percent month-on-month, putting an end to the stagnant situation since 2009.

Expectations of a rise in housing prices has eased a bit

The survey conducted by the operation management division of the People's Bank of China suggests that 46.6 percent of Beijing residents expect housing prices to rise over the next 3 months, a drop of 10.5 percentage points from the previous quarter. About 14.6 percent expect housing prices to fall over the next 3 months, 8.1 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter. At the same time, 40.9 percent hold that housing prices will continue to go up in the upcoming year, down 10 percentage points month-on-month while 13.6 percent believe that housing prices will go down over the next year, up 3.6 percentage points month-on-month. 16.7 percent said that they are not certain whether or not housing prices will rise over the next year, an increase of 6.1 percentage points from last month.

Beijing residents show a declining willingness to buy apartments in the upcoming year. Only 16.9 percent of residents intend to buy an apartment in the coming year, down 4.6 percentage points from the previous quarter. 30.8 percent show a willingness to purchase apartments after one year, up 3.9 percentage points from the previous quarter. 52.3 percent show no interest in buying a home, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The index of commodity price satisfaction reached a new low

41.5 percent of home buyers have favorable views of the impact control policies have had on housing prices and have postponed their home buying plans while 27.9 percent stated that their willingness to buy apartments will be based on their needs and not on relevant policies. 26 percent stated that they will suspend their home buying plans as the impact of control polices is not yet clear. Other people said that they will buy apartments ahead of schedule as relevant control policies will not put an end to the upward trend of housing prices.

The survey also indicates that 5.1 percent of Beijing residents were unsatisfied with commodity prices in the first quarter, with the index of commodity price satisfaction standing at 25.9 percent, down 2.5 and 15.4 percentage points from the previous quarter and from the same period of last year, respectively. Of which, 84.5 percent of people expressed their discontent with the soaring price of housing, a record high.