Foshan Introduces 12 Measures for the Real Estate Market: Minimum 15% Down Payment for Housing Provident Fund Loans, Relaxing Home Purchase Restrictions for Foreigners

On November 19th, according to the official WeChat account "Foshan Release", eight departments including the Foshan Housing and Urban - Rural Development Bureau jointly issued the "Notice on Several Measures to Further Promote the Stable and Healthy Development of the Real Estate Market". The notice focuses on aspects such as land supply, project commencement and completion, and provident fund loans, and a total of 12 measures are introduced, which will be implemented starting from today.

Further relaxing the conditions for provident fund loans is a major highlight of this new policy.

The new policy states that those who purchase allocated affordable housing in Foshan can apply for provident fund loans, with a down - payment ratio of not less than 15%, which is lower than the minimum 20% down - payment requirement for commercial housing. Eligible foreign individuals can also apply for provident fund loans when purchasing properties in Foshan. Moreover, employees who have paid provident funds in other places can convert their commercial loans into provident fund loans, and employees who pay provident funds and are purchasing their second homes can also enjoy the "conversion from commercial loans to provident fund loans".

For overseas individuals working or studying in China, they can purchase commercial housing in Foshan only by providing a written commitment for self - use and self - occupation.

In addition, the recognition of the number of housing units for deed tax payment has been further optimized. In Foshan, when paying deed tax for real estate transactions, the calculation of the number of housing units should be based on the query results of the number of housing units in the district where the property is located.

However, according to the previous real estate policies, the standard for recognizing the number of housing units for deed tax in Foshan has always been based on the district as the query scope. For example, if someone has one property in Chancheng District, one in Shunde District, and one in Nanhai District, and then buys another property in Chancheng District, the deed tax will still be calculated according to the second - home standard.

Currently, the implementation standard of deed tax in Foshan is defined by an area of 140 square meters. For housing below 140 square meters, regardless of whether it is the first or second home, the deed tax is 1%. For housing above 140 square meters, the deed tax for the first home is 1.5%, and for the second home, it is 2%. For the third and subsequent homes, regardless of the area, the deed tax is 3%.

The refined adjustment of the land supply side is another key point of these twelve real - estate measures.

Firstly, increase the intensity of "collection, adjustment, and supply" of existing land. For idle existing land, it will be dealt with through methods such as negotiated repurchase (acquisition), agreement replacement, and the use of special bonds. After the land is recovered, its planning use can be optimized and adjusted according to the needs of urban development and then re - supplied.

Secondly, adopt a dual strategy of strict control and support for transformation to promote the utilization of commercial service land. For areas where the inventory digestion cycle of commercial and office buildings exceeds 18 months, except for projects such as cultural and tourism industries, the transfer of new commercial service land and commercial - residential mixed land will be strictly controlled. At the same time, for the commercial service land that has been transferred but not developed, internal subdivision and function conversion of land types can be carried out. Commercial and office buildings can also be temporarily converted into uses such as medical, elderly care, and cultural and creative industries according to the current situation. This measure not only relieves the inventory pressure of commercial service land but also supplements the shortage of public services to a certain extent.

In addition, in terms of the supply ratio, Foshan will increase the supply ratio of residential land, and the proportion of the floor area ratio of commercial and office buildings shall not exceed 10%.

There are also detailed adjustments in the project construction and approval process. For example, regarding the commencement and completion time limits and penalty standards, the new policy proposes that for newly transferred projects, the commencement and completion time limits can be scientifically determined based on standards such as project scale. For projects that have already been transferred, real - estate enterprises can apply for a construction suspension, but the suspension period cannot exceed one year.

In terms of planning approval, supporting facilities such as community power distribution rooms, pump rooms, and rooftop equipment rooms will no longer be included in the calculation of the floor area ratio. The same project can apply for acceptance in phases, and buildings can be registered for the first time on a single - building basis. Property services can also optimize the charging standards in accordance with the principle of "matching quality with price" to comprehensively serve the construction of good houses and good communities.

Since 2024, Foshan has successively introduced a series of real - estate policies, and the real - estate market has thus shown several small peaks. In May last year, Foshan introduced the "13 - point real - estate policy". In the following two months, the prices of new and second - hand houses increased continuously. In October last year, with the support of policies such as the "9 - point new policy", Foshan's real - estate market witnessed its second peak in transactions. In that month, 6,349 new - house units were sold, a month - on - month increase of 125.53%, setting a new high in the past three years.

In the first ten months of 2025, Foshan's real - estate market remained generally stable. The online signing of second - hand houses reached 44,115 units, basically the same as the same period last year, while the online signing of new houses was slightly lower, reaching 26,758 units, a year - on - year decrease of 24%. In November, the real - estate market showed signs of warming up, with both the transaction volume and price rising last week, and the transaction volume increasing by more than 70% month - on - month.

With the implementation of the "Twelve New Policies" today, more impetus has been injected into Foshan's real - estate market, and a recovery is expected.