From detailed regulations to land bidding rules, the new real estate policies have entered the implementation stage.

On September 30, the Guangzhou Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, Guangdong Regulatory Bureau of the National Administration of Financial Regulation, and other departments jointly issued an implementation opinion, implementing the Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System from six aspects: presale, existing home sale, host bank, financing support, land supply and policy coordination.

In the early morning of October 1, three departments of Wuhan Municipal Housing and Urban Renewal Bureau, Wuhan Municipal Natural Resources and Urban-Rural Development Bureau and Wuhan Municipal Local Financial Administration Bureau issued an implementation opinion covering seven aspects including presale, existing home sale, land supply, completion filing, financing coordination, government services, and real estate market regulation.

Previously, Beijing and Shanghai had issued their implementation opinions on September 24 and September 28 respectively.

Some cities that have not yet introduced comprehensive detailed rules have incorporated the new regulations into land transfer documents. A residential land parcel listed for sale in Quanzhou on September 30 requires the simultaneous implementation of the project company system, the host bank system and the existing home sales system; some plots in Shantou, Jiayuguan, Jiyuan and other places also explicitly require existing home sales.

A source from the natural resources department of a second-tier city told the Economic Observer that the introduction of detailed rules is only the first step. Next, it is necessary to revise the land transfer documents, planning conditions and transfer contract templates, and coordinate the implementation procedures of various departments. Both local governments and real estate enterprises need a process of adaptation and running-in.

Detailed Rules Are Gradually Implemented

The four cities that have issued detailed rules all require that commercial housing projects with newly transferred land prioritize existing home sales; for presale in accordance with the new regulations, the main structure must be capped, and home purchase funds shall be included in supervision. The detailed rules of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are divided into six aspects respectively, while Wuhan separately lists batch completion filing and government services to refine the transition arrangements for stock projects.

In terms of the boundary between old and new regulations, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are basically consistent. Taking August 28, 2026 as the boundary, projects that have obtained all or part of the Construction Project Planning Permit as of that date can continue to apply the original presale conditions and fund supervision policies in accordance with regulations; for projects that have obtained land but not obtained the planning permit, the new regulations shall apply in principle; if confirmed by the district government that the project can be delivered on schedule and filed with the municipal department, the presale can be applied for in accordance with the original presale conditions before the end of 2027, but fund supervision must be strengthened.

For commercial housing projects that were announced for transfer on or before August 28, 2026 and obtained land thereafter, Shanghai clarifies that the original presale conditions can be continued before the end of 2027, and the new fund supervision policy shall be implemented; Guangzhou implements the new presale policy in principle. Only after confirmed by the district government that the project can be completed and delivered on schedule, filed with the municipal housing and urban-rural development department, and the presale fund supervision is strengthened, can the presale application be submitted in accordance with the original conditions before the end of 2027.

Wuhan allows projects that have obtained the planning permit on or before August 28 and have changed thereafter to continue to apply the original presale policy; qualified intelligent construction and prefabricated building projects also have transition arrangements; some historical legacy projects that have re-signed land contracts after stock revitalization can apply for presale in accordance with the original presale conditions before the end of 2028 after risk assessment and filing.

Before the existing home sales filing, Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan require the completion of the first real estate registration of houses; Guangzhou requires the completion of the completion acceptance filing, the supporting facilities such as water, electricity and gas meet the delivery conditions, and the independently set public service facilities in residential areas pass the completion acceptance, and encourages the application after the first registration is completed.

All four cities allow existing home sales projects to sign deposit contracts after obtaining the construction permit. However, the deposit collection standards are different: Beijing requires no more than 1% of the total house price, Shanghai requires no more than 3%, Guangzhou requires no more than 5%, and Wuhan requires no more than 5% in principle.

In addition, Guangzhou and Wuhan require full supervision of the deposit, which shall not be used during the supervision period, and the supervision shall be lifted after the specified completion acceptance filing and delivery conditions are met; Beijing and Shanghai also require the deposit to be deposited into the supervision account of the host bank.

In terms of real estate enterprise financing, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou clarify that the development loan contracts newly signed after August 28 shall implement the host bank system. If a single bank provides the development loan, that bank shall act as the host bank; for syndicated loans, the lead bank shall act as the host bank. Development loans, self-owned funds, existing home sales income, etc. shall be included in the fund account of the host bank, and presale funds and existing home sales deposits shall enter the supervision account.

In addition, for the applicable scope of individual housing mortgage loans and provident fund loans issued after the completion filing, the detailed rules of Beijing are limited to projects that have obtained the presale permit after August 28; Shanghai and Guangzhou cover projects that obtain the permit from August 28.

Wuhan has slightly different regulations. For development loan contracts signed on or before August 28, 2026, the host bank and the real estate enterprise can negotiate to add new financing, extend the term or adjust the repayment method; if a real estate project company applies for a development loan with the land use right mortgaged, the mortgage shall be set collectively with the divided household land use rights, and the specific measures shall be formulated separately.

The four cities also have different regulations on the time limit for paying land transfer fees. Beijing allows full payment within two years after the contract is signed; Shanghai and Guangzhou require payment within one year in principle, and the period can be extended for another year after going through relevant procedures. Wuhan allows installment payment within the construction period, with at least 50% paid within half a year, and the remaining balance paid within one year in principle, and the maximum period can be extended to two years after going through the decision-making procedures.

In addition, Guangzhou also supports phased and separate building approval, and handling part of the procedures in advance after land pre-registration; Wuhan allows projects that apply the original presale policy to replace the supervised funds with a letter of guarantee after bank assessment, with the upper limit being 30% of the fund amount required to ensure the completion and delivery, and the supervised fund after replacement shall not be less than 70% of that amount.

Land Auction Rules Updated

After the implementation opinion was released, no new residential land parcels have been listed for sale in Shanghai; on September 30, the plot of Xiejiazhuang Village, Beiqijia, Changping District, Beijing released a pre-application announcement, which was converted into an official announcement on the same day, with a starting price of 2.936 billion yuan, and the transaction is scheduled for November 3; Wuhan listed 3 residential plots on September 22, and the auction is scheduled for October 16.

In fact, before the release of the detailed rules, the transfer conditions of some plots have begun to be adjusted.

For the KXCGS-I4-8 plot in Huangpu District listed by Guangzhou on September 1, it was initially required that the remaining land payment be paid off on December 15. The supplementary announcement on September 17 adjusted the payment arrangement to pay 50% of the first-phase land transfer fee within 30 days from the date of signing the transfer contract, and the remaining balance paid off within one year.

This adjustment extends the payment period, but the supplementary announcement still requires interest to be paid in accordance with the regulations, which is different from the installment payment without interest proposed in the Guangzhou detailed rules on September 30. The specific implementation conditions shall be subject to the transfer documents of this plot and subsequent adjustments.

In addition to the above four cities, some cities that have not yet issued detailed rules have added new deal rules to the land transfer listing announcements.

On September 30, Quanzhou listed a total of 4 residential land parcels, and the auction is scheduled for October 20. Among them, the listing announcement of Plot Feng 2026-13-1 clearly states that this plot is included in the pilot of the basic system of the new real estate development model, and must implement the project company system, the host bank system and the existing home sales system.

The announcement of Plot Feng 2026-13-1 also requires that the registered capital of the project development company shall not be less than 20% of the total project investment; before the house delivery, investors shall not illegally withdraw the project sales and financing funds, nor withdraw the capital or distribute dividends in advance; project capital, development loans and sales proceeds shall be collected into the host bank account; the application for existing home sales filing can only be submitted after the project completes the completion acceptance filing and the first real estate registration.

The other 3 residential-related plots in the same batch do not list the above three pilot systems. None of the 4 residential-related plots set a maximum sales price for residential buildings, and the winning enterprise can independently set the price according to the market, and must implement the relevant national and local policies when the houses are put on the market for sale. Plot Feng 2026-13-1 was once announced for transfer on September 9, and the auction was terminated the next day due to possible ownership disputes within the plot. After being re-launched, the land area was reduced by 6,479 square meters, and the upper limit of floor area ratio was reduced from 2.8 to 2.5.

Although Plot Feng 2026-13-1 is included in the pilot of the basic system of the new real estate development model, the winner is still required to pay 50% of the transaction price within 30 days, and the remaining balance paid off within two months; among the other 3 plots, the remaining balance payment period of two plots is 12 months, and that of one plot is 3 months.

From September 29 to 30, Shantou listed 3 residential land parcels, and the transaction is scheduled for November 2 to 4, all requiring existing home sales, of which two allow installment payment of land funds. Some plots in Jiayuguan and Jiyuan also clearly require existing home sales; some plots launched in September in Hangzhou, Dongguan, Wuhu, Taishan and other places have set clauses requiring existing home sales or optional existing home sales respectively.

The above-mentioned source from the natural resources department of the second-tier city said that the formulation of detailed rules needs to balance the requirements of the new deal and land transfer income, and leave cash flow space for real estate enterprises on the premise of not violating the principles of the new deal. When implemented to specific plots, plots with low total price may require one-time full payment, or installment payment within three months or half a year; for plots with high total price, the payment period will usually be appropriately extended. Local governments will also consider reducing the total price of a single plot to reduce the burden of land acquisition for enterprises.

Market Reaction

On September 3, China Resources Land won the plot of Houshayu Wenyuhe, Shunyi District, Beijing with 8.2993 billion yuan and a premium rate of 17.37% after 174 rounds of bidding; on September 30, the plot of Pazhou South, Haizhu District, Guangzhou was won by Poly with 3.82 billion yuan and a premium rate of 26.5% after 41 rounds of bidding.

The source from the above-mentioned state-owned real estate enterprise said that most real estate enterprises reduce their land acquisition expenditure budget out of the need for cash flow management. In this case, the investment of real estate enterprises is mainly concentrated in the core areas of core cities.

The above-mentioned source from the natural resources department of the second-tier city said that his city is formulating the detailed rules of the new deal, and what is being studied is the feasibility of phased development and sales and phased payment of land transfer fees. That is, when the real estate enterprise pays the second phase of land payment, the first phase of the project has completed the completion and filing, so that the recovered funds can be invested in subsequent development.

He also admitted that for this arrangement to be valid, the land payment period, phased construction plan and acceptance conditions need to match each other, and it is not easy to achieve the expected effect in reality. In addition, under the background of full and whole-process supervision of funds such as project presale funds, deposits and mortgage loans, can they be used to pay project funds, material funds and other expenses to reduce the additional expenditure of real estate enterprises? Can a project complete the completion acceptance filing and lift fund supervision by individual building to speed up fund recovery? These issues also need to be answered by the detailed rules of various regions.

In accordance with the Wuhan detailed rules, the minimum development unit must be reasonably delineated at the planning stage, and the corresponding supporting facilities must be complete upon delivery. If the first phase undertakes more construction tasks of roads, underground spaces or public facilities, the initial investment may still be large. Real estate enterprises need to determine the construction content of each phase when making land acquisition calculations, and cannot only allocate the expenditure according to the area proportion of residential buildings.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Economic Observer", written by Tian Guobao, and authorized for release by 36Kr.