China's housing market enters stock phase as second-hand home sales exceed 50% of total transactions

Accelerating Development for the "15th Five-Year Plan" Period (Authoritative Release)

Housing and urban-rural construction bridges people's livelihoods and national development. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, over 11 million units of government-subsidized housing and resettlement housing benefited more than 30 million people, and dilapidated housing for over 1.78 million low-income rural households was renovated, further improving housing conditions for the people.

As the "15th Five-Year Plan" period approaches, key questions arise: How will modern people's cities be built? What changes will the real estate market undergo? How will the work be carried out? On September 18, the State Council Information Office held a press conference under the "Starting the '15th Five-Year Plan'" series, outlining plans for advancing high-quality development in housing and urban-rural construction during this period.

Building "Good Homes" to Improve Living Standards

What Defines a "Good Home"?

The Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development highlighted four key characteristics: safe, comfortable, green, and smart.

"Specifically, the standards that the people consider good are the standards for 'good homes,'" stated Chen Shaowang. The Ministry has carefully listened to public opinions on improving living conditions and has raised housing quality requirements across 14 areas.

Key updates include:

• Floor height standards: The latest version of the Residential Project Code has raised the minimum floor-to-ceiling height from 2.8 meters to 3 meters.
• Elevator requirements: Previously required for buildings of 7 floors or more, the new code mandates elevators for buildings of 4 floors or more.
• Child safety: The latest code has uniformly raised the height of guardrails on balconies, corridors, and other elevated areas to no less than 1.2 meters.

Local governments are actively exploring "good home" construction. Some projects adopt a separated system for water, heating, electricity, and main structure to avoid wall-breaking during repairs and renovations. Others feature flexible, adjustable room layouts that increase storage space and allow for future modifications.

How to Build "Good Homes"?

"We will promote 'good homes' across the entire chain and lifecycle—from good standards, good design, good materials, good construction, to good operation and maintenance," said Chen Shaowang.

Three approaches are being taken:

1. Build new homes well: "We will comprehensively improve housing standards, design, materials, construction, and operation and maintenance," said the Ministry's Chief Engineer. This includes promoting smart construction, green building, green materials, and modular construction in "good home" projects.

1. Renovate old housing: "There are two ways to renovate old housing," explained Li Xiaolong. One is demolition and reconstruction, particularly for D-grade dilapidated houses, optimizing structure and function with minimal area changes. The other is renovation, repair, and partial upgrades.

1. Improve services: "Good homes" require "good services." The Ministry will coordinate the development of good neighborhoods, communities, and urban areas based on "good homes," supplementing services such as elderly care, childcare, and dining. It will also accelerate the establishment of a lifecycle building safety management system.

"We will also implement a property service quality improvement initiative," Li added, establishing a new collaborative model involving neighborhood committees, homeowners' associations, and property service companies under the leadership of community Party organizations to provide diverse residential services.

Achieving a Higher Level of "Housing for All"

Balancing Risk Prevention and Transformation, Livelihood Improvement and Growth

The real estate sector directly affects people's interests and overall economic and social development, drawing significant public attention.

The Director of the Real Estate Market Supervision Department noted two major shifts in the current market:

1. Fundamental changes in supply-demand dynamics
2. The market entering a stock phase

Data shows that the share of second-hand housing transactions has risen from 27% in 2020 to 46% in 2025. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, second-hand transactions accounted for 52% of total transactions in the first eight months of this year, crossing the 50% threshold.

"During the '15th Five-Year Plan' period, we will actively adapt to new real estate trends, changes, and requirements, balancing risk prevention and transformation, as well as livelihood improvement and growth, to accelerate the establishment of a new real estate development model," said Zhang Xuetao.

What Is the New Real Estate Development Model?

• One goal: Focus on ensuring people have a safe and secure home, achieving a higher level of "housing for all."
• Two systems: Improve both the affordable housing system and the market housing system, forming a supply structure with clear positioning and complementary functions to effectively meet housing needs.
• Three systems: Reform and improve fundamental real estate systems, focusing on the project company system, the lead bank system, and the completed-home sales system.
• Four elements: Promote the linkage of people, housing, land, and money, ensuring housing supply matches population, land supply matches housing, and funding matches housing for rational resource allocation.

To date, all three fundamental real estate systems have been introduced:

• Project company system: Each real estate project corresponds to one project company, which exercises independent legal person rights. Parent companies are strictly prohibited from illegally diverting project company funds.
• Lead bank system: Each project designates one bank or banking syndicate as its lead bank. All development, construction, and sales funds must be deposited with the lead bank, which provides project financing to meet reasonable funding needs.
• Completed-home sales system: By enabling "what you see is what you get," this system fundamentally prevents delivery risks. "Going forward, new real estate development projects should prioritize completed-home sales," Zhang stated. Projects using pre-sales must strengthen pre-sale fund supervision to protect buyers' rights.

Regarding affordable housing, Zhang noted that the government will further improve the housing security system, primarily through rental-based and ownership-based subsidized housing, combining rental subsidies with physical housing supply, and determining construction and procurement based on demand.

Specifically:

• Urban low-income households with housing difficulties will receive full coverage as a safety net.
• New citizens, young people, and urban wage earners with housing difficulties and limited incomes will be provided with rental or ownership options based on local conditions and policies to meet their basic housing needs.

Advancing High-Quality Urban Renewal

115,000 Old Urban Residential Communities to Be Renovated Nationwide

Urban renewal is a key focus of current urban work. The Urban Renewal "15th Five-Year Plan" proposes 10 development indicators, 23 key tasks, and 14 major projects. Key areas of work include:

Livelihood Projects

During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the following are planned nationwide:

• Renovation of 115,000 old urban residential communities
• Complete community construction and renovation in 5,000 communities
• Renovation and installation of 575,000 residential elevators
• Construction and renovation of 50,000 hectares of urban green space
• Addition of 15,000 pocket parks
• Construction and renovation of 20,000 km of urban greenways

Development Projects

• Renovation and upgrading of 1,500 old neighborhoods and factory districts
• Restoration and upgrading of a new batch of national historical and cultural cities
• Renovation and upgrading of 300 historical and cultural districts

Safety Projects

• Construction and renovation of approximately 770,000 km of urban underground pipelines, including:
• Gas pipelines: ~200,000 km
• Drainage pipelines: ~175,000 km
• Water supply pipelines: ~175,000 km
• Sewage pipelines: ~100,000 km
• Heating pipelines: ~120,000 km
• Promotion of underground utility tunnels based on local conditions, with total investment exceeding 5 trillion yuan.

Ensuring Effective Implementation

"We will establish an integrated mechanism linking urban physical examinations with urban renewal, making problems identified through examinations the focus of renewal efforts," said Zhang Qiang, Director of the Urban Management Supervision Bureau. "We will also create a mechanism that organically integrates urban renewal with historical and cultural preservation, allowing history and modern life to complement each other."

On resource guarantees, Zhang stated that a sustainable urban renewal investment and financing mechanism will be established, increasing government investment while better leveraging market forces. Additionally, the government will accelerate urban renewal legislation and improve standards to provide institutional support for high-quality urban renewal.