Guangdong Eases Rules For Developers, Home Buyers

Source : The Business Times, March 5, 2009

Late payment facility in land deals boosts developers' shares

(SHANGHAI) China's southern province of Guangdong will allow real estate developers to delay payments on land purchases for as long as two years as part of measures aimed at supporting the industry. Developers' shares gained.

Wooing foreigners: The Guangdong provincial government has granted equal treatment for home purchases by buyers from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan

The provincial government has also granted equal treatment for home purchases by buyers from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and will encourage local real estate developers listed abroad to sell domestic stock in China, according to a statement on its website.

Home sales in the province, the biggest contributor to China's economy, fell 21 per cent last year, the first decline since 2003, the Guangdong Real Estate Association said in a report last month. The stock of unsold homes rose 37 per cent last year, the association said.

Country Garden Holdings Co, a Foshan, Guangdong-based developer, rose 10 per cent, the most since Feb 6, to HK$1.60 in Hong Kong. Guangzhou R&F Properties Co jumped 11 per cent, the most in almost a month, to HK$6.65. China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd, a Hong Kong-based developer controlled by China's Construction Ministry, gained 4.6 per cent to HK$10.84.

The provincial government said it will allow home buyers to borrow more for 30-year loans. The relaxation on buyers from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan is effective until the end of the year.

China's government in July 2006 announced rules barring foreigners who haven't lived or studied in China for a year or more from buying apartments and forbidding the purchase of properties to rent to third parties. -- Bloomberg