Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – On February 25th, five departments including the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Shanghai Municipal Housing Administration Bureau, and the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau jointly issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing and Adjusting Shanghai's Real Estate Policies" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). The Notice further reduces housing purchase restrictions, optimizes housing provident fund loan policies, and improves personal housing property tax policies. The Notice will take effect on February 26, 2026.
The Notice stipulates that non-Shanghai resident families or single adults who have continuously paid social insurance or personal income tax in Shanghai for one year or more prior to the date of purchase are allowed unlimited purchases of housing outside the outer ring road, but limited to one housing unit within the outer ring road; those who have continuously paid social insurance or personal income tax for three years or more are limited to two housing units within the outer ring road. Those holding a Shanghai Residence Permit for five years or more are limited to one housing unit within Shanghai.
Yan Yuejin, Vice President of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute, pointed out that previously, non-Shanghai resident families or single adults, provided they had paid social security for one year, could only purchase housing outside the outer ring road. Now, this has been expanded to the entire city. This indicates that the threshold for non-Shanghai resident families to purchase homes in Shanghai has been further lowered.
The "Notice" optimizes the housing provident fund loan policy. The maximum provident fund loan amount for a family purchasing its first home has been increased from 1.6 million yuan (RMB) to 2.4 million yuan. Combined with the increased maximum loan amount for families with multiple children and those purchasing green buildings (up to a 35% increase), the maximum provident fund loan amount for a Shanghai family can reach 3.24 million yuan.
Yan Yuejin stated that before the new policy, if a family had taken out two provident fund loans, they would not be eligible for further provident fund loans for subsequent home purchases. Under the new policy, as long as a family has no housing or only one property, and their provident fund has been fully paid off, they will continue to enjoy the right to provident fund loans. This allows more families upgrading their housing to receive provident fund loan support, promoting the release of demand for improved housing. Furthermore, under the new policy, the maximum loan amount for Shanghai's housing provident fund families has reached 3.24 million yuan, leading the country.
Regarding improvements to the personal housing property tax policy, the "Notice" stipulates that, starting from January 1, 2026, personal housing property tax will be temporarily exempted for Shanghai residents whose children have reached adulthood and whose homes are the only residence for their adult children's families. (End)
