China’s Biggest Cities Expected to Ease Housing Policies

What’s new: Housing authorities in China’s largest cities pledged to introduce policies to support demand and promote the steady and healthy development of local real estate markets.

Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the four largest cities with the highest home prices in the country, have long imposed restrictive policies on home purchases to curb prices. The tone of recent meetings and documents signals a clear shift away from the party line since 2016: that houses are for living in, not for speculation.