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China property
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China’s hi-tech manufacturing hub Dongguan lifts property-buying restrictions to stimulate demand

  • Sales at Dongguan’s top 20 developers in the first 11 months sank 34.5 per cent year on year to 90.56 billion yuan (US$13 billion)
  • City lifts home-buying curbs in the last five remaining neighbourhoods, but maintains restrictions on resales for two years to dampen speculation

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The Greater Bay Area city of Dongguan in China’s Guangdong province has a population of 10.4 million and some 200,000 manufacturing firms. Photo: Shutterstock
Yulu Ao
China’s hi-tech manufacturing hub of Dongguan has removed homebuying restrictions across the entire city, joining several Chinese tier-2 cities in easing curbs to boost the property market amid overall weak sales.
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Dongguan’s Housing and Construction Bureau on Monday lifted the ban on individuals buying new homes in the last five areas that were still subjected to the restrictions, making it the second city in the Greater Bay Area after Foshan to remove such constraints to stimulate demand this month.

At the same time, the local government tightened measures on property resales in a bid to dampen speculation. Homes in these five localities – Guancheng, Dongcheng, Nancheng, Wanjiang and Songshan Lake Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone – cannot be sold within two years of buying.

The property market in Dongguan, which is home to 10.47 million people and some 200,000 manufacturers, has seen rapid growth over the last few years thanks to its burgeoning hi-tech industries. Samsung, Philips, DuPont, Nestle and Huawei Technologies are among the big names with facilities in the city.

An under-construction housing complex by Chinese property developer Poly Group in Dongguan, pictured in July this year. Photo: AFP
An under-construction housing complex by Chinese property developer Poly Group in Dongguan, pictured in July this year. Photo: AFP

In 2020, the city’s home price gains topped the entire country. Prices surged 29 per cent year on year, followed closely by a 23 per cent jump in Shenzhen, according to a housing index compiled by the research unit of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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But Dongguan’s home market has slumped this year. The sales of the city’s top 20 developers in the first 11 months sank 34.5 per cent year on year to 90.56 billion yuan (US$13 billion), while volume dropped 37.2 per cent to 2.96 million square metres (31.9 million sq ft), according to data from property research firm CRIC.

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