Experts discuss the direction of housing fund reform, stating it will lean towards second-hand homes

People’s Financial News, March 12 — According to media reports, many regions have recently announced new policies for the housing provident fund system. Song Hongwei, Co-Director of the Center for Real Estate Research, stated that the role of the provident fund is becoming more prominent at this stage and has played an important role in reducing the costs for homebuyers. Currently, there have been significant changes in the housing development phase. Now that the market has entered the stock housing stage, some demand will shift to the secondary housing market, and renovation of old neighborhoods will become a focus. As part of the housing security system, the provident fund should increase support for existing housing in the future. Regarding reform of the provident fund, Song Hongwei believes it can be approached from several aspects: First, increasing loan limits is an important direction; second, the demand for replacement-type purchases is becoming more evident. For example, Shanghai’s policy of recognizing houses without recognizing loans provides a good reference for other cities; additionally, future support for the provident fund should expand into the secondary housing market to adapt to the rising proportion of secondary home transactions; furthermore, the interest rates for provident fund loans should be further optimized to ensure their advantages in second-home purchases; finally, future housing renovation and upgrades will also require support from the provident fund policy. (China News Service)