Xi'an has unveiled new policies on commercial housing sales, setting the ceiling of the deposit for existing home sales at 5%.

On October 30, the official website of Xi'an Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released the Implementation Opinions on Implementing the Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System, the details of which are as follows:

All relevant entities: To accurately implement the relevant requirements of the Notice of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the National Administration of Financial Regulation on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System (Jianfanggui [2026] No. 3), accelerate the establishment of a new model for real estate development, and in light of the actual conditions of our city, the following implementation opinions are put forward.

I. Improve the pre-sale management of commercial housing

(1) New land-acquired projects. For commercial housing projects with new state-owned construction land use right transfer announcements released after August 28, 2026, if applying for pre-sale, the main structure of the single building shall be fully capped, and the pre-sale license can be processed only after verification and approval by the housing and urban-rural development department where the project is located. The pre-sale funds of the project shall be under closed-loop management, and the pre-sale fund supervision can be lifted only after the project is completed and accepted, and the supporting facilities such as water, electricity, gas and heating meet the delivery conditions. The specific measures for pre-sale fund supervision shall be issued separately.

(2) In-transit projects. For commercial housing projects that have obtained (including partially obtained) the Construction Project Planning Permit but have not applied for the pre-sale license before (inclusive) August 28, 2026, if applying for the pre-sale license, the pre-sale conditions shall be implemented in accordance with the original policy provisions; for commercial housing projects that have obtained the state-owned construction land use right (or are in the process of land transfer) but have not obtained the Construction Project Planning Permit, the pre-sale policy shall be implemented in principle in accordance with the regulations for new land-acquired projects. If the people's government of the district or county where the project is located and the administrative committee of the development zone judge that the project can be guaranteed to be completed and delivered on schedule, under the condition of strengthening the supervision of pre-sale funds, after reporting to the municipal housing and urban-rural development department for the record, the pre-sale can be applied for in accordance with the original pre-sale conditions before the end of 2027.

(3) For real estate projects with historical legacy issues that have obtained the state-owned construction land use right before (inclusive) August 28, 2026, the people's governments of all districts and counties and the administrative committees of development zones shall establish a list and ledger, and after risk assessment, under the conditions of strengthening fund supervision and ensuring the on-time delivery of houses, the relevant provisions for in-transit projects can be implemented.

(4) For commercial housing projects that apply for pre-sale licenses in accordance with the original pre-sale conditions after August 28, 2026, after the supervised fund amount covers the required expenses for the remaining project construction, the corresponding construction funds can be applied for withdrawal according to the construction progress; the part of the supervised fund amount exceeding the required expenses for the remaining project construction can be applied for withdrawal, but the required expenses for the project must be paid first. The fund withdrawal shall be reviewed by the housing and urban-rural development department where the project is located.

II. Promote the existing housing sales in an orderly manner

(5) Commercial housing projects with newly transferred land after August 28, 2026 and projects with transferred land that have not obtained the Construction Project Planning Permit shall give priority to the existing housing sales mode.

(6) Real estate development enterprises shall complete the housing completion acceptance and other matters in accordance with relevant requirements, submit the existing housing sales plan and the supporting documents meeting the delivery conditions to the housing and urban-rural development department where the project is located for the record, and then organize the sales in accordance with the existing housing sales plan. The sold houses and the corresponding construction land use right shall not have any right restrictions such as mortgage or seizure. When selling houses with existing mortgages, with the written consent of the mortgagee, the proof that the mortgagee agrees to the sale shall be submitted when handling the record-filing of existing housing sales. When the enterprise signs a contract with the home buyer, the online signing and record-filing of the contract shall be completed immediately after the mortgage is cancelled.

(7) For projects implementing existing housing sales, real estate development enterprises may sign a purchase deposit contract with home buyers after obtaining the Construction Permit for Construction Projects. The deposit collected generally shall not exceed 5% of the total house price, and all the deposit shall be deposited into the supervision account opened by the Xi'an Real Estate Transaction Management Center at the project's host bank, and no withdrawal is allowed during the supervision period. After the project meets the delivery conditions, the enterprise can apply to lift the deposit supervision. If the project fails to meet the delivery conditions within the agreed period due to the reasons of the real estate development enterprise, the home buyer has the right to terminate the deposit contract and apply for deposit refund in accordance with the contract.

III. Optimize land supply management

(8) Make overall planning and rational layout of commercial residential land, optimize the land transfer plan, and support land transfer with planning schemes. Improve the "one plot, one policy" consultation mechanism, solidly carry out the pre-work such as "multiple surveys in one" including survey and demarcation, right ownership investigation and topographic mapping, as well as cultural relics exploration, soil pollution investigation and "seven connections and one leveling", consolidate the basic conditions for land transfer, increase the construction of municipal supporting facilities around the land, and realize "start construction immediately after land acquisition".

(9) For commercial residential land newly transferred after August 28, 2026, from the date of signing the transfer contract, the accumulated land transfer price paid within 6 months shall not be less than 50% of the total price, and the balance shall be paid off within one year. If the enterprise applies for an extension, the maximum approved period shall not exceed two years. If the enterprise pays the price on schedule, no interest shall be charged.

(10) After signing the land transfer contract and paying no less than 50% of the transfer price, the real estate development enterprise can apply for the land pre-registration certificate, go through the formalities such as the Construction Project Planning Permit, Construction Permit for Construction Projects and real estate surveying and mapping of the land parcel in advance, and sell the houses corresponding to the part of the land transfer price that has been fully paid.

IV. Optimize project completion acceptance record-filing and delivery

(11) When applying for the planning scheme, real estate development enterprises can draw up phased development plans in combination with the construction scale and delivery arrangement, reasonably delimit the minimum unit under the guidance of the natural resources and planning department and the housing and urban-rural development department, and the project can organize completion acceptance record-filing sequentially according to the delimited minimum unit.

(12) Support eligible projects to divide the underground and above-ground stages with the ±0.00 of the building as the boundary to implement completion acceptance record-filing. For fully furnished commercial housing projects, the completion acceptance record-filing procedures can be handled in two construction stages: rough housing and interior decoration.

(13) Phased development shall meet the access conditions of municipal public service facilities such as water, electricity, gas, heating, communication and roads, and can be delivered only after meeting the living conditions.

V. Implement the host bank system

(14) For commercial housing projects that sign development loan contracts after August 28, 2026, the host bank system shall be implemented. One real estate project shall determine one host bank, which is selected by the real estate project development company and the host bank through two-way selection. The host bank can independently issue development loans to the project, or take the lead in forming a banking syndicate to provide development loans and supporting financing services for the project.

(15) Real estate development enterprises shall open capital accounts at the host bank. During the project duration, except for the pre-sale funds and deposits that need to be supervised in accordance with relevant regulations, all project-related funds such as development loans, project self-owned funds and existing housing sales funds shall be included in the project capital account opened at the host bank for management.

(16) After the real estate development enterprise determines the host bank, it shall promptly report to the housing and urban-rural development departments at the municipal, district/county and development zone levels for the record. The Xi'an Real Estate Transaction Management Center shall open a capital supervision account at the host bank for depositing the pre-sale funds and existing housing deposits of the supervised projects. Once the host bank is determined, it shall not be changed in principle before the real estate development loan is fully repaid, and the corresponding supervision account shall not be cancelled or changed without authorization.

VI. Increase financing support

(17) For projects that obtain pre-sale licenses after August 28, 2026, financial institutions shall issue individual housing mortgage loans after the completion acceptance record-filing. For projects that have obtained the Construction Project Planning Permit before (inclusive) August 28, 2026 and have partially obtained the pre-sale licenses, financial institutions are supported to issue individual housing mortgage loans in accordance with the original policies.

(18) The host bank shall meet the reasonable financing needs of the project in accordance with the market-oriented principle, match the issuance of development loans with the construction cycle of the project, reasonably determine the release nodes and amounts according to the project construction progress, and issue development loans in batches. The loan funds shall be paid through the capital account opened at the host bank to the counterparty's account of the project company by entrusted payment, and all shall be used for project construction. At the same time, real estate development enterprises are supported to carry out financing through multiple methods such as equity and bonds.

(19) For real estate projects that implement phased land payment after August 28, 2026, when handling the Construction Project Planning Permit, the real estate unit code shall be set for each house, and the mortgage registration of real estate development loans corresponding to land rights shall be explored. If the real estate project development company applies for a development loan with the land use right mortgage, the mortgage shall be set with the aggregated land use right of each individual house, and the relevant measures shall be formulated separately.

(20) Commercial banks and real estate development enterprises are encouraged to carry out pre-sale supervision fund letter of guarantee replacement in light of the actual conditions of the project on the premise of strictly implementing closed-loop capital management and ensuring the on-time delivery of the project, and the funds replaced by the letter of guarantee must be used for project construction.

VII. Improve development and construction management

(21) The development and construction of commercial housing implements the project development company system. The project development company shall independently exercise legal person rights in accordance with the law, establish and improve the commercial housing project engineering quality assurance system, and implement the primary responsibility of the project development company for engineering quality and the main responsibilities of the survey, design, construction and supervision entities.

(22) Continuously optimize the engineering construction approval process, promote the housing and urban-rural development, natural resources and planning, urban management, water affairs, development and reform and other departments to intervene in advance and handle procedures in parallel, streamline approval items, integrate approval links, shorten approval time, optimize the links involved in commercial housing sales such as online signing of sales contracts, real estate registration and mortgage loan handling, and promote the "delivery of house keys together with property right certificates".

(23) Implement the requirements of "good standards, good design, good materials, good construction and good operation and maintenance", promote the application of green low-carbon and intelligent construction technologies, comprehensively improve the quality of residential design and construction, thoroughly implement the systems of transparent construction sites, household-by-household acceptance, and pre-house inspection before house collection, and build safe, comfortable, green and smart "high-quality houses".

(24) Continuously strengthen the supervision of the real estate market, improve the normalized supervision mechanism, focus on key areas such as commercial housing sales, fund supervision, contract performance and delivery guarantee, severely crack down on various illegal and irregular acts such as false publicity, illegal sales and fund misappropriation, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers, and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.

These Implementation Opinions shall take effect as of the date of issuance. If the relevant contents of previously issued documents are inconsistent with these Implementation Opinions, these Implementation Opinions shall prevail.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Xi'an Release", released with authorization from 36Kr.