Pre-owned housing market boosts in Beijing under policy support

Data shows that Beijing's pre-owned housing market has boosted significantly in the past month since the Chinese capital lowered the down payment ratio and mortgage interest rate for home purchases in June.

Data from several pre-owned housing agencies in Beijing's Dongcheng, Chaoyang and other districts show that since July, the number of customer inquiries and transaction volumes have increased significantly, and the trading schedule has been further shortened.

"The number of customers has increased, and our agents have become busier. Buyers and sellers are also very cooperative, and the transaction schedule is shortening for both sides. In the past, the trading process basically took two or three months, but now some can be completed in one month or even half a month. The introduction of the new policy has played a positive role in promoting the trading," said Wang Zhiguo, a store manager of a housing agency in Dongcheng District.

The latest data from the Beijing Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission shows that since Beijing introduced new real estate policies on June 26, the number of online signings of pre-owned residential properties in the city reached 16,439 units from June 27 to July 27, an increase of more than 7.5 percent compared with the month before the policy was introduced.

"The new policy has lowered the threshold for home purchases, and the policies of purchase and loan restrictions have been continuously optimized, which reduced the cost of home buyers and greatly eased the burden of home purchases. More demand for necessity and improved housing continues to enter the market, transaction volume continues to increase, and the willingness of ordinary people to buy houses continues to increase," said Zhao Xiuchi, dean of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Real Estate Research Institute under the Capital University of Economics and Business.

As the policy effects gradually emerge, the transaction volume of Beijing's second-hand housing market has continued to increase, and the prices have also tended to stabilize. According to the data from Beijing's largest intermediary agency, the overall trend of pre-owned housing prices in Beijing has been stable since the second quarter of this year. In July, the market price rose by about 0.5 percent month on month. Since April, the average transaction price of pre-owned housing has remained stable for four consecutive months, with an average monthly fluctuation range of less than 1 percent.

"Now that the market is heating up, prices are gradually stabilizing. I found that the contract prices of the several orders we recently signed are getting closer and closer to the listing prices, and the fluctuations are relatively small. The current purchasing confidence of customers is also stronger than before," said Wang Xiushi, a store manager of a housing agency in Chaoyang District.

Pre-owned housing market boosts in Beijing under policy support

Israel bombed a school housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people including staff members with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and wounding dozens of the displaced seeking shelter there.

UNRWA has confirmed that six of its staff were killed in two airstrikes on the Al-Jaouni School in Central Gaza's Al Nuseirat refugee camp, including the shelter's manager.

UNRWA said the deaths mark the highest number of its staff killed in a single incident over the past 11 months.

In a statement on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the fatal attack on the school housing refugees, and called the lack of civilian protection in Gaza "unconscionable".

He also said the lack of accountability for Israel's killing of UN staff and humanitarian workers in Gaza is completely unacceptable.

Meanwhile, an Israeli government spokesperson said the attack was legitimate, accusing Hamas of using the school as a command and control center.

Hamdi Ali, the father of one of the children who died in the Israeli bombing, shared the hardships they've lived through. But despite everything, he said he will remain in the school because there is no safe place to go.

"We are peaceful civilians. We were displaced to this school in search of safety and reassurance. I lost my son Obaida in the bombing, and I don't know who else I’ll lose next time. Maybe I'll lose my wife, the rest of my children, or even myself. I could be one of the next victims, or any of the other displaced people here in the school," said the father.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, dozens of people injured in the attack on the school have been sent to Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospita, among whom a large number are women and children.

"We were surprised by a missile that penetrated three floors and hit the place where we were. Half of the floor collapsed and my sister fell down. My other sister and I were injured by missile shrapnel and were trapped under the rubble. One of my sisters had a broken arm, and the other had injuries on her head and back," said Lubna Jalo, a witness of the airstrike.

The Al-Jaouni School shelters about 12,000 displaced Palestinians, with most of them being women and children. It is run by UNRWA and has been bombed five times since the beginning of the ongoing war.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip had risen to 41,084, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.

Israeli airstrike on Gaza school kills UN staff, displaced Palestinians