12月22日,上海交通大学上海高级金融学院副院长、金融学教授朱宁做客《Biz Asia》,就当日国务院公布的《不动产登记暂行条例》作出第一时间的解读,他认为该条例将有助于推动房地产市场的健康和稳定。
Host: what's in terms of property stock at least for? Today, the real estate sector tumbles nearly 5% after Monday announcement of this new regulation on property registration. Eighteen companies slip 10%, the maximum daily loss allowed for individual stock here on the Chinese mainland market. Analysts say the regulation may give more potential home buyers in sort way of wait-and-see attitude and way in on price increase as well.
OK, now let's bring in professor Zhu Ning from Shanghai Jiaotong University to get his take on China's upcoming property registration system. Professor, welcome to the program.
So China is now trying to build a more unified, a more comprehensive property registration system. Work us through, how such system will better help policymakers here monitor Chinese very vast property market? What is it going to do in terms of transaction volume, in terms of prices. And, does it bring a very significant level of stability to the market that's currently lacking right now?
Professor Zhu: yes, I think this is a very important and very impactful regulation. For one thing, I think with this meaningful registration system, the government will for the first time be able to chill what fraction of the demand is the really still in demand and which part of the demand is more coming from the speculation. And also, I think this is making way to the rolling out of the property tax system, which I think is very important because according to research overseas, with property tax, there is a lot of cost being associated with holding a property. The demand for speculation will decrease, which should help stabilize the house market. So, in sum, I think in the long run, this is a very important and very healthy implementation of the system. In the short term, I think both the price and volume may see some negative changes. Over the long run, I think the house market will be healthier and more sustainable.
Host: OK, so the plan here, professor, now it's all about the execution of this plan. What are the biggest challenges actually implementing this registration. The current property registration system, I feel a sort of paradox because on the one hand, it's very loose; on the other it's very complicated because of significant overlap between numerous agencies, from various levels of governments. So, what's the major stumbling box that policymakers could potentially face here?
Professor Zhu: I think the devils are always in the details, especially for such a national level comprehensive registration system. I think there are three layers of overlap and challenges. One, I think this is a multi-agency and multi-industry collaboration. I think some of agencies will benefit from this reform while some others might be suffering more, might be losing some of their turfs. Some inter-ministry turf war might be going on during the implementation. The second, we have to keep in mind real estate is the key fiscal revenue source to many local governments. So, whether the local governments have the incentive or the basic willingness to cooperate with the central government, that is another possibility I wonder. Finally, I think, no matter how good it is, it's going to be a very costly program whether even if everyone is onboard, whether there is enough support, or enough resources to help a fast and efficient implementation of this registration system. I think this will be something that I am curious to watch.