Lower the house price to 1.5 million, and it will be much easier to sell.

"This property has been cut from 1.65 million yuan to 1.42 million yuan. After the price reduction, it is eligible for the interest subsidy policy, and the owner is sincerely selling it." A real estate agent in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, introduced to China News Finance that after the interest subsidy policy was implemented, a large number of properties in his jurisdiction were priced at 1.5 million yuan or below after price cuts. "These properties can attract more attention and will definitely sell better." 

The residential housing purchase loan interest subsidy policy came into effect on October 1, 2026. Eligible residential mortgage loans can enjoy an interest subsidy support of 1 percentage point. China News Finance learned that since the policy was launched, the transaction proportion of properties meeting the interest subsidy requirements in Hangzhou has risen, and the previously wait-and-see groups of end-users are accelerating their entry into the market. 

The transaction proportion of second-hand houses priced within 1.5 million yuan has increased

The Zhaohui area in Gongshu District, Hangzhou, is a region with a high concentration of old properties in the urban area, and many second-hand properties have listing prices hovering around 1.5 million yuan. 

China News Finance browsed on the Beike Zhaofang App and found that since October, a number of second-hand properties have seen price cuts, several of which have been reduced to 1.5 million yuan or below. Meanwhile, as the floor area of second-hand properties in this area is generally below 120 square meters, for home buyers with the qualification to purchase their first house, the price-reduced properties meet the requirements of the residential housing purchase loan interest subsidy policy. 

For example, a second-hand property of about 61 square meters listed at the end of September this year had an initial total listing price of 1.6 million yuan, which was reduced to 1.5 million yuan on October 14; a second-hand property of about 58 square meters listed in early September had a previous total listing price of 1.65 million yuan, which was reduced to 1.42 million yuan on October 13; a second-hand property of about 88 square meters listed in early June had an initial total listing price of 1.98 million yuan, which after multiple price adjustments, was reduced to 1.43 million yuan on October 8. 

A real estate agent named Liu Feng (pseudonym) in the Zhaohui area told China News Finance that after the interest subsidy policy was implemented, some owners reduced the total price of their properties to 1.5 million yuan or below to sell their properties better. "Properties priced below 1.5 million yuan can attract more attention and will definitely sell better." 

Liu Feng said that some owners who are not in a hurry to sell have not chosen to adjust the price. However, for properties priced slightly above 1.5 million yuan, there is still room for negotiation, and the possibility that the final transaction price is reduced to 1.5 million yuan or below is relatively high. 

Data provided by Hangzhou Beike Research Institute shows that during the National Day holiday, the proportion of properties priced in the range of 1.5 million yuan to 2 million yuan in Hangzhou urban area that were adjusted to below 1.5 million yuan accounted for 5.6% of all price-adjusted properties in this period. In the week before the housing purchase loan interest subsidy policy was introduced, this proportion was 3.8%. After the release of the interest subsidy policy, the owners responded quite promptly.

Shangguan Jian, President of Hangzhou Beike Research Institute, said in an interview with China News Finance that after the implementation of the interest subsidy policy, the willingness of second-hand house owners in Hangzhou to sell their houses has increased, and they are more eager to sell their properties. "The proportion of properties with a total listing price above 1.5 million yuan that have been adjusted downward has risen, indicating that owners believe that reducing the price to below 1.5 million yuan will speed up the transaction." 

According to data from Hangzhou Beike Research Institute, the transaction proportion of second-hand residential properties with a floor area under 120 square meters and a total price within 1.5 million yuan in Hangzhou has risen from 32% in September to 35.1% since October, an increase of 3.1 percentage points.

End-user groups are accelerating their entry into the market

In recent days, Liu Feng has successfully closed a deal of a second-hand property that is eligible for the interest subsidy policy. The property has a floor area of about 57 square meters and a total price of about 900,000 yuan. The customer applied for a commercial loan of about 700,000 yuan from the bank, which can save more than 20,000 yuan in interest over 5 years. 

Not only in Hangzhou, a considerable number of properties in Chengdu, Sichuan also meet the requirements of the residential housing purchase loan interest subsidy policy that the floor area does not exceed 120 square meters and the total price does not exceed 1.5 million yuan. 

"After the interest subsidy policy was implemented, I received inquiries from many customers asking how the interest subsidy works." A real estate agent in Wuhou District, Chengdu, told China News Finance that the interest subsidy policy has a relatively large impact on end-user groups. Taking a 1 million yuan commercial loan as an example, the monthly payment is reduced from about 4,200 yuan to about 3,700 yuan, which is 500 yuan less per month, saving more than 30,000 yuan in interest over 5 years. 

"As far as Chengdu's urban area is concerned, properties with a floor area not exceeding 120 square meters and a total price not exceeding 1.5 million yuan are basically end-user-oriented housing. After enjoying the interest subsidy policy, paying 400 to 500 yuan less per month brings relatively great benefits to them, so it can further stimulate the end-user housing groups." 

Shangguan Jian said that the second-hand housing market in Hangzhou also leans towards end-user groups. After the implementation of the interest subsidy policy, the second-hand housing market has benefited more, which can be illustrated by the rise in the transaction proportion of second-hand residential properties with a floor area under 120 square meters and a total price within 1.5 million yuan since October. End-user groups are quite sensitive to monthly payments. With the reduction of monthly payments, some previously wait-and-see customers choose to make purchases.

"Owners want to sell houses and customers want to buy houses. The buying and selling activities will boost the market activity." Shangguan Jian said. 

The second-hand housing market in strong second-tier cities benefits more

For strong second-tier cities such as Hangzhou and Chengdu, the impact of the interest subsidy policy on the second-hand housing market is greater than that on the new housing market. 

According to data released by the WeChat official account "Zhongzhi Research Institute Southwest" under the research institution affiliated to the China Index Academy, from January to September 2026, the total transaction of commercial residential properties (excluding affordable housing) in Chengdu was about 46,000 units. Among them, transactions that meet both "total price per unit ≤ 1.5 million yuan and floor area ≤ 120 square meters" account for about 25.9% of the total transactions in the whole period. In September 2026, there were more than 200,000 second-hand residential properties listed in Chengdu, among which properties that meet both "total listing price per unit ≤ 1.5 million yuan and floor area ≤ 120 square meters" account for 81.7% of the total listed stock in the city. 

"Zhongzhi Research Institute Southwest" believes that more than 80% of second-hand properties in Chengdu meet the requirements of the interest subsidy policy, so the second-hand housing market benefits more from the policy. Almost all new houses in the core area of Chengdu's main urban area are beyond the threshold, and the role of the policy on new houses is mainly concentrated in the end-user-oriented sectors in the suburban and outer suburban areas. 

Shangguan Jian said that the proportion of new houses in Hangzhou that meet the interest subsidy requirements is not high. In addition, developers are waiting for the detailed implementation rules of the "8.28 New Policy" in Hangzhou, and there is a lack of corresponding measures in these aspects, so the impact on the new housing market is not obvious. The interest subsidy policy will have a certain effect on new houses in the peripheral markets such as the suburban and outer suburban areas of Hangzhou. 

More importantly, Shangguan Jian said: "Many owners who sell their second-hand houses may return to the new and second-hand housing market in the future, which will promote the market activity."

In terms of the performance of Hangzhou's market this year, Shangguan Jian predicts that with the increase of the willingness of both buyers and sellers, the market in the fourth quarter may be better than the same period last year, and will also see a certain growth compared with the third quarter of this year. 

The China Index Academy recently published an article stating that the implementation of the housing purchase loan interest subsidy policy is expected to reduce the housing purchase cost of eligible families and drive part of the demand to be released faster. Among them, small and medium-sized second-hand residential properties that meet the interest subsidy conditions in the suburbs of first-tier cities and some second-tier cities will benefit, and transaction activity is expected to get certain support. 

The China Index Academy said that the current scale of second-hand housing listings is still at a relatively high level, the relationship between market supply and demand has not been fundamentally improved, and the transmission from transaction recovery to price stabilization still takes time. It is expected that the overall second-hand housing market will continue the bottoming trend in the short term, prices are still under adjustment pressure, and the differentiation between different cities and different sectors within a city will continue. 

The views in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investment involves risks, and you need to be cautious when entering the market. 

This article is from the WeChat official account "China News Finance" (ID: jwview), written by Xue Yufei, authorized to be released by 36Kr.