Ningbo Second-hand Housing Market Remain Generally Stable

Recently, with the double cut in deed tax and business tax, Ningbo second-hand housing market was invigorated. As sources from real-estate agencies suggested, many of them were expediting their business expansion. Around a certain residential area there were even 7 real-estate agencies.

A boom in the housing market attracted people to take up the profession of housing agency.

Mrs. Zhong rented a small room of about 10 square meters in Fuming Street where she had been selling chickens for over 20 years. Due to good quality and moderate prices, her store attracted many customers in the vicinity who then made her acquaintance and brought her a considerable income.

However, after the Spring Festival in 2016, customers were told that the store had changed its business. In the following days, Mrs. Zhong started to refurbish her store and finished just two days ago with a brand new appearance. A conspicuous sign hung above demonstrating its new business: real-estate agency.

I have planned this in the end of 2015, said Mrs. Zhong. She has many friends who are getting on quite well as middlemen in the housing market. As more and more favorable policies are released, her friends think they should seize the opportunity in 2016, one of whom then cooperates with Mrs. Zhong in the opening of a new real-estate agency after discreet deliberation. My friend is an experienced middleman. He has a good knowledge of the procedures of house transactions and useful resources, and I own a store that only needs some transformation. So the costs aren't very high. Mrs. Zhong is now learning from her partner about the business while gleaning information of available houses.

Real-estate agencies are expanding their business to gain superiority.

As the second-hand housing market warms up, a number of people with different careers gravitate to the business. Around a community named Liyayuan in Haishu District, there were 7 real-estate agencies, including The 21st Century, Nantian, Chengfa and the like with only a road lying between.

According to introduction, an increasingly vibrant market means business expansion for those agencies. Because on one hand, a better market will restore people's confidence and appeal to new practitioners. On the other hand, to obtain larger market share, agencies are required to open more stores to entice customers. Real-estate agencies will adjust the positioning of their stores with the delivery of finished houses, said Bai Wenxin, a marketing manager of The 21st Century Real-estate agency, Ningbo Division. He added that the expansion of real-estate agencies in 2016 will be more rational, following the changing market based on multiple factors like locality.

In 2016, Ningbo real-estate agencies all expanded their business to some degree. For example, Nantian Real Estate currently possesses 50 stores in Ningbo, with 3 more on the way. And The 21st Century Real Estate is also seeking for suitable sites for new stores with about 50 ones already established.

Stable prices put a brake on landlords' willful charge.

Xue Mingqiang, general manager of Nantian Real Estate, regards March as a month of great surge in demands. Policies at all levels spur the pickup in recent housing business.

Many agencies approved the mounting sales of second-hand houses, but negated exaggerations like business explosion and purchasing battle . A staff member in The 21st Century Real Estate showed several cases: one deal was clinched over a second-hand house in Zhuque Village at about 500,000. But as the new tax policy was released, the buyer refused to pay when the owner charged for 50,000 more. In another case, the landlord asked for 100,000 more than the original agreed price and then marked down 20,000 after the buyer rebuffed, to no avail. These deals all fizzled out. The house owners have changed their minds. They have high expectations which buyers fail to live up to, he said.

However, a change transpires in the house transaction cycle that diminished. Mrs. Tong, a veteran practitioner in this business explained that clients used to pick from ten to twenty houses and it generally took a month to conclude the deal. But now they only have four or five options and three days will be enough.

Statistics from several big second-hand house agencies indicate that except for some core areas, the price of second-hand houses remains generally stable.

LINK:	http://en.nbwh.gov.cn/art/2016/3/9/art_1325_80504.html...
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