On May 27, four departments—the Shanghai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Management Committee, the Municipal Housing Administration Bureau, the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, and the Municipal Tax Service—jointly issued the "Notice on Optimizing Policies and Measures to Promote the Stable and Healthy Development of the City's Real Estate Market" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), proposing policy measures including adjusting and optimizing housing purchase restriction policies, supporting the reasonable housing needs of families with multiple children, optimizing housing credit policies, supporting "trade-in of old homes for new ones," and optimizing land and housing supply. The "Notice" took effect on May 28, 2024.

(1) Adjusting and optimizing housing purchase restriction policies

To meet reasonable housing needs, support talent in settling down, and promote a balance between jobs and housing, housing purchase restriction policies will be adjusted and optimized in a differentiated and region-specific manner.

First, shortening the required years of social insurance or individual income tax contributions for non-Shanghai-registered residents to purchase housing. The required years of social insurance or individual income tax contributions for non-Shanghai-registered residents to purchase housing will be adjusted from "continuous contributions for 5 years or more" to "continuous contributions for 3 years or more"; for non-Shanghai-registered talent purchasing housing in new towns and key areas such as the North-South Transformation zones, the requirement will be adjusted accordingly from "continuous contributions for 3 years or more" to "continuous contributions for 2 years or more," while non-Shanghai-registered talent purchasing housing in the Lin-gang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone will continue to follow the "continuous contributions for 1 year or more" rule.

Second, expanding the housing purchase areas for non-Shanghai-registered talent and non-Shanghai-registered single persons in key areas. With the aim of promoting a regional balance between jobs and housing, the housing purchase area for non-Shanghai-registered talent in new towns and key areas such as the North-South Transformation zones will be expanded to the entire district in which they are located; the housing purchase area for non-Shanghai-registered single persons will be expanded to second-hand housing within the Outer Ring Road.

Third, adjusting the relevant policy criteria. The rule on combining housing units for calculation in the case of divorce for housing purchase purposes will be abolished; for housing purchases after a couple divorces, the number of housing units owned will no longer be calculated based on the pre-divorce household. The housing gift rules will be adjusted so that gifted housing will no longer be counted toward the number of housing units owned by the donor.

Fourth, supporting enterprises in purchasing housing for employee rental. Where enterprises purchase small-unit second-hand housing (referring to second-hand housing completed before 2000 with a building area of 70 square meters or less) for employee rental, there will no longer be a limit on the number of housing units purchased.

(2) Supporting the reasonable housing needs of families with multiple children

To meet the reasonable housing needs of families with multiple children, support measures will be taken in areas such as housing purchase restrictions and credit.

First, allowing the purchase of one additional housing unit. Families with two or more children (including both Shanghai-registered and non-Shanghai-registered resident families) may purchase one additional housing unit on top of the existing housing purchase restriction policy.

Second, optimizing the determination of first-home status. The standards for determining first-home status in personal housing loans for families with multiple children will be optimized to reduce the interest burden of home purchases.

(3) Optimizing housing credit policies

In accordance with the principle of city-specific policies, relevant policies for newly issued commercial personal housing loans in the city will be adjusted:

First, the lower limit of the interest rate for first-home commercial personal housing loans will be adjusted to no less than the corresponding Loan Prime Rate (LPR) minus 45 basis points (after adjustment, the lower limit for mortgage rates for terms of more than 5 years is currently 3.5%), and the minimum down payment ratio will be adjusted to no less than 20%.

Second, the lower limit of the interest rate for second-home commercial personal housing loans will be adjusted to no less than the corresponding Loan Prime Rate (LPR) minus 5 basis points (after adjustment, the lower limit for mortgage rates for terms of more than 5 years is currently 3.9%), and the minimum down payment ratio will be adjusted to no less than 35%; the Lin-gang Special Area of the Free Trade Zone and the entire areas of the six administrative districts of Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian, Baoshan, and Jinshan will continue to implement differentiated policies, with the lower limit of the interest rate for second-home commercial personal housing loans adjusted to no less than the corresponding Loan Prime Rate (LPR) minus 25 basis points (after adjustment, the lower limit for mortgage rates for terms of more than 5 years is currently 3.7%), and the minimum down payment ratio adjusted to no less than 30%.

Banking financial institutions shall, in accordance with the requirements and in light of factors such as their own operating conditions and customer risk profiles, reasonably determine the specific down payment ratio and interest rate level for each loan. For specific loan business, please consult the handling bank.

(4) Optimizing the personal housing provident fund loan policy

To further leverage the role of personal housing provident fund loans in supporting residents' reasonable housing needs, the personal housing provident fund loan policy will be optimized.

First, increasing the loan limit. For employees purchasing a first home, the maximum personal provident fund loan amount (including supplementary provident fund) will be adjusted to 800,000 yuan, and the maximum household provident fund loan amount (including supplementary provident fund) will be adjusted to 1.6 million yuan. For families with multiple children taking out loans to purchase a first home, the policy of raising the maximum loan amount by 20% on this basis remains unchanged, meaning the maximum can reach 1.92 million yuan. For employees purchasing a second, improvement-type home, the maximum personal provident fund loan amount (including supplementary provident fund) will be adjusted to 650,000 yuan, and the maximum household provident fund loan amount (including supplementary provident fund) will be adjusted to 1.3 million yuan.

Second, lowering the down payment ratio. For those applying for provident fund loans to purchase a first home, the minimum down payment ratio will be adjusted to 20%; for those applying for provident fund loans to purchase a second, improvement-type home, the minimum down payment ratio will be adjusted to 35%, and where the purchased housing is located in the Lin-gang Special Area of the Free Trade Zone and the six administrative districts of Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian, Baoshan, and Jinshan, the minimum down payment ratio will be adjusted to 30%.

(5) Supporting families with housing difficulties in improving their living conditions

To support families with housing difficulties in improving their living conditions, eligible resident families participating in the "trade-in of old homes for new ones" will be given moderate subsidies for transitional rent, renovation, and moving during the housing replacement period.

First, subsidy recipients. Starting from the effective date of the "Notice," resident families that, within one year, sell **housing located within the Outer Ring Road completed before 2000 with a building area of 70 square meters or less and purchase new first-hand housing outside the Outer Ring Road may apply for subsidies from the real estate transaction center of the district in which the purchased first-hand housing is located.

Second, subsidy standards. Tiered fixed subsidies will be provided based on the building area of the sold housing: for a building area of less than 30 square meters, the subsidy standard is 20,000 yuan per unit; for a housing building area of 30 to 50 square meters, the subsidy standard is 25,000 yuan per unit; for a housing building area of 50 to 70 square meters, the subsidy standard is 30,000 yuan per unit. The subsidy shall be collected after completing the real estate ownership certificate for the newly purchased first-hand housing.