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Cao Li

Shanghai has further relaxed home purchase rules just six months after the last adjustment, in its latest attempt to stem a multi-year property downturn.
Non-residents who have made social security contributions or paid individual income tax for one year will be eligible to buy one home in the city, Shanghai authorities said in a joint statement.
Previously, non-residents had to wait three years based on a policy announcement last August, easing a five-year mandate introduced in 2016 to cool an overheating market.
Those who have paid at least three years of social security contributions or individual income taxes will be allowed to buy a second home in the city area.
The policy easing, which comes after sluggish home sales in January, is designed to capture pent-up demand among non-residents, who have lower home ownership rates and therefore a stronger appetite for home purchases, according to analysts.
New home sales in Shanghai, where housing demand is relatively stronger than in other cities across the country, fell 38.6 per cent in January when measured by floor space, according to data from Centaline Property.

“The market’s momentum is fading,” said Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Housing Policy Research Institute, a government-linked think tank.
The new measures were expected to boost home purchases in March, added Li. “But the outlook for April and May hinges on whether March’s policy-backed rebound can spark a sell-to-buy upgrading cycle, bringing in new and non-resident buyers and prompting existing homeowners to trade up,” he said.
2026 is also the beginning of the city’s new five-year plan, and Shanghai officials have repeatedly said they want a strong start, which also explained the timing of the new announcement, Li added.
The new policy also significantly increases the amount homebuyers can borrow under the housing provident fund scheme, which typically carries lower interest rates than commercial bank mortgages.
For households buying their first home, the maximum provident fund loan will be increased from 1.6 million yuan (US$232,000) to 2.4 million yuan. If they have at least two children, or they are buying what is defined as environmentally friendly green buildings, the maximum could increase to 3.24 million yuan.
“While continuing to reduce homebuying costs, the measures will also further encourage housing demand to be released more actively,” said Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China Research and Development Institute.
Non-residents make up about 40 per cent of Shanghai’s roughly 25 million population. From December 2025 to January 2026, home purchases by Shanghai residents accounted for about 55 to 60 per cent of the total, while non-resident buyers made up the rest, according to Li.
Into its sixth year of a downturn, China saw new home sales fall by another 13 per cent in 2025 to 7.3 trillion yuan, down more than 55 per cent from its peak of 16.3 trillion yuan in 2021.
In top-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, second-hand home prices, which are less regulated, have fallen to levels last seen a decade ago.
The housing slump has weighed on some of China’s largest developers, most recently state-backed China Vanke. Many analysts expect home sales and prices to keep falling for at least two more years.
The downturn, in a sector that used to contribute about a quarter of China’s gross domestic product, has hit everything from employment to consumer confidence.
Chinese authorities have rolled back most of the purchase restrictions imposed during the boom years to curb soaring home prices, replacing them with new incentives to encourage home buying.
Shanghai imposed some of the country’s most stringent restrictions in 2016, but starting in 2023 began to gradually loosen them.


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Business

Property

Hong Kong & China

Non-residents with three years of social security contributions or individual income taxes will be allowed to buy a second home in the city


Non-residents with three years of social security contributions or individual income taxes will be allowed to buy a second home in the city.


Shanghai eases residency requirements for homebuyers to spark property recovery

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Non-residents with three years of social security contributions or individual income taxes will be allowed to buy a second home in the city

Non-residents with three years of social security contributions or individual income taxes will be allowed to buy a second home in the city