Within a week, the cities of Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province and Hengyang in Hunan Province successively issued official announcements to “cancel public area allocation,” sparking discussions online.
On December 12, the departments including the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Hengyang jointly issued a notice on implementing pricing based on the internal building area for the sale of commercial housing in the city starting January 1, 2025.
On December 17, the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Zhangjiakou City in Hebei Province, along with four other departments, jointly issued a set of measures to promote stable and healthy development of the real estate market, announcing the cancellation of the price limitation mechanism for the sale of commercial housing and encouraging the implementation of “current house sales,” gradually advancing the “cancellation of public area allocation.”
According to a report by the “Daily Economic News,” before this announcement, cities such as Zhaoqing in Guangdong and Xiangtan in Hunan had already proposed the “cancellation of public area allocation.” Additionally, cities like Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Changsha, and Xiamen, while not explicitly canceling public area allocation, have increased the actual usable floor area by relaxing restrictions on “gift area limits, optimizing balcony and other space area calculation rules.”
Reported by “Shanghai Morning Live,” it is anticipated that more cities will follow suit next year. Experts suggest that the cancellation of public area allocation will be a significant task for the upcoming year.
In fact, the topic of public area allocation is brought up for complaints almost every year. For example, when buying a 100-square-meter house, even with a percentage as low as seventy, the actual usable area is not met. Areas such as corridors, walkways, elevators, and even some public green spaces are factored into the housing price; even heating costs are considered in the allocation.
The discussion around the “cancellation of public area allocation” sparked heated debates online on December 18 and 19, even accumulating a total of 180 million views.
Some netizens expressed concerns that “cancelling public area allocation may lead to increased housing prices with no real change,” while others joked that “it seems these houses are truly unsellable.”
One netizen listed recent official policies in real estate, such as reducing the LPR base points, relaxing qualifications, lowering interest rates, decreasing down payments, facilitating settlement arrangements, and now the cancellation of public area allocation, indicating poor sales. They commented that following the old path may eventually lead to zero down payments and even monthly gift allowances. They concluded with “watching for changes to come.” Other netizens added, “There will be more surprises, so don’t rush. Stay calm.” “If no one buys, they will continue to introduce preferential policies until the houses return to their original value, worth around 500 per square meter.”
Some netizens shared their disappointment, saying, “Those who bought houses before are indirectly losing out.” “For those who purchased in 2021, the house has already depreciated nearly 200,000, plus the cancellation of public area allocation, adding another 200,000 loss, making it unnecessary to continue paying off the mortgage, selling soon would be better.” “Blocking the path for those who couldn’t afford their monthly payments and want to sell the house, leading to a sharp decline in second-hand housing transactions. Encouraging people to buy new houses and pulling out all their money.” “People have no confidence, no money in hand, why would they still buy houses? Eager to sell and exchange for foreign currencies.” “Getting fooled every time, but the method keeps changing.” “The houses aren’t selling, more good news is yet to come.”
Statistics from the Hengyang Statistics Bureau over the past years showed that after 2021, the local property market in Hengyang not only did not rebound but declined year by year.
The “Basic Situation of Hengyang Real Estate Market in January-June” released by the city in August this year indicated that the city’s sales of commercial housing from January to June amounted to 7.507 billion yuan, a decrease of 25.4% compared to the same period last year. Residential sales decreased by 27.7%; sales of commercial and business properties decreased by 13%. The unsold area reached 1.287 million square meters, a 35% increase.