China Expands Completed Home Sales Rules, Shifting Construction Funding Away From Buyers

More than 20 cities redraw the rules for buying a new home

China is moving more of the cost and risk of building new homes away from buyers and toward developers and banks, with more than 20 cities introducing detailed housing sales reforms following a national policy issued on August 28, 2026. The changes delay when developers can sell unfinished apartments, tighten control over buyers' money and encourage sales only after construction is complete.

Jingmen in Hubei province has taken a firm approach: housing projects on land newly transferred after August 28 should, in principle, sell completed homes. Developers choosing that model must pay at least 50 percent of the land price initially, but can spread the remaining payment over as long as two years.

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Hangzhou are among the cities that have issued implementation rules, according to monitoring by the China Index Academy. Nanchang, Mianyang and Luzhou have also sought public comments on proposed measures.

The changes address a central weakness in China's housing market. Under the presale model, families buy apartments before they are finished, and their payments help finance construction. When a developer runs short of money, households can face a long wait for homes they have already committed to buying.

The new approach combines three changes: later sales, a separate company responsible for each development, and a lead bank overseeing project financing. Together, they seek to keep construction money attached to the homes it is meant to build.

Local details matter. Shenzhen caps early deposits for completed home projects at 3 percent of the purchase price, Beijing at 1 percent and Guangzhou at 5 percent. Nanjing and Jinhua also move mortgage lending for newly permitted presale projects to a later stage, after completion has been officially recorded.

What the national policy changes

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Ministry of Natural Resources and National Financial Regulatory Administration jointly issued the Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System. It calls for stronger protection of presale funds, fewer delivery risks and an orderly expansion of completed home sales.

Projects that continue using presales face a higher construction threshold: an individual building must have its main structure topped out. In simple terms, its structural frame must reach the top before apartments in that building can be offered for presale. Interior work, equipment installation and other tasks may still follow.

The notice also provides a transition for projects that obtained construction planning permits before it took effect. Their presale conditions and supervision of presale money continue under the previous policies. Local rules add more detailed categories based on when land was transferred and permits were obtained.

Authorities also want buyers to receive property ownership certificates when they receive their homes. This requires closer coordination between construction approval, sales administration and property registration, so physical handover and legal ownership paperwork can happen together.

A rollout shaped by local deadlines

August 28 is the dividing date across the reforms, but cities apply it through different milestones. Some rules turn on a land transfer announcement, others on a planning permit, presale permit or new loan contract. A development's paperwork therefore determines which requirements it follows.

The main steps in the rollout include:

• August 28, 2026: The national reform package establishes the framework for tighter presales and more completed home sales.
• October 15: Shenzhen releases its rules, while Hangzhou issues trial implementation measures.
• October 27: Jinhua publishes local rules that take effect immediately.
• October 29: Changsha releases its implementation measures.
• October 31: Five departments in Nanjing issue trial rules covering nine areas and 19 policies, effective immediately.
• November 3: Beijing sells its first residential plot under the August 28 framework, with completed home sales given priority.

Transition periods extend beyond the initial rollout. Nanjing allows certain projects that already have land but lack planning permits to apply under previous presale conditions through the end of 2027, subject to review and stronger supervision. Changsha provides a similar route through 2027 and extends the period to the end of 2028 for certain urban renewal and other projects involving unresolved historical issues.

Completed homes can still involve an early deposit

Completed home sales mean the main transaction takes place after the property reaches the required completion stage. Several cities nevertheless allow a small deposit earlier, once the developer has obtained a construction permit. The deposit reserves a future purchase while giving buyers a smaller initial financial commitment than a full presale payment.

Shenzhen permits deposits of up to 3 percent of the total home price. Shanghai uses the same ceiling. Beijing limits deposits to 1 percent, while Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and Changsha generally use 5 percent. Nanjing generally caps them at 5 percent, and Jinhua sets a ceiling of 5 percent.

For an apartment priced at 2 million yuan, those limits translate into 20,000 yuan at 1 percent, 60,000 yuan at 3 percent and 100,000 yuan at 5 percent. Guangzhou's permitted deposit is therefore five times Beijing's for a home at the same price.

Changsha requires the entire deposit to remain in a supervised account until completion and delivery. Nanjing requires deposit contracts to specify the amount, sale price, delivery date and responsibility for failing to meet the agreement. Its deposits also remain supervised until the property meets delivery conditions.

City rules set different final steps before sales can begin. Changsha requires completion acceptance to be officially recorded. Jinhua requires initial property registration and the filing of a sales plan. Shenzhen makes completed home sales compulsory where the land sale conditions specify that requirement; otherwise, its policy encourages the model for newly transferred residential land.

Presales require more construction and closer checks

Changsha turns the national topping out requirement into a precise construction test. Developers must finish pouring concrete for the building's top slab and submit a structural quality acceptance record signed and stamped by five parties: the developer, surveyor, designer, contractor and construction supervisor.

Jinhua similarly requires the concrete roof level of the main structure to be complete and to pass acceptance by those five participants. Each presale application must cover at least 5,000 square metres and cannot cover less than a whole building.

Buyers' down payments and mortgage proceeds must enter supervised accounts under the new local arrangements. Jinhua requires completion acceptance to be recorded and utilities and other supporting facilities to meet the conditions for delivery before supervision is lifted. Changsha likewise ties release from supervision to completion and functioning services such as water, electricity and gas.

Older developments receive different treatment. Beijing, Guangzhou and Tianjin allow qualifying projects already under construction to continue under previous presale rules. When Shenzhen and Shanghai announced their measures, detailed treatment of existing projects was left for further study.

Land payments become more flexible

Developers selling homes later must finance a longer stretch of construction before receiving most of the purchase money. Several cities respond by allowing them more time to pay for land, reducing the amount of cash needed at the beginning.

Jingmen requires an initial land payment of at least 50 percent for completed home projects, with the remainder payable within two years. Beijing and Hangzhou also allow qualifying projects up to two years to settle the balance.

Shenzhen sets a 50 percent initial payment for newly transferred residential land. The balance is generally due within one year, extendable to two years for special projects. Developers must pay the full land price before initial land registration and before obtaining presale permits for their first batch of homes.

Nanjing requires at least half the land price within 30 calendar days of signing the land transfer contract. The balance can be paid within two years without interest during the instalment period. Jinhua also allows at least 50 percent upfront and the balance within two years without interest. Changsha permits instalments without interest and allows companies to use land transfer contracts to begin construction permit procedures earlier.

These arrangements link financial relief to stricter sales conditions. A developer gains time to pay for land while taking greater responsibility for financing construction before collecting substantial sums from buyers.

One project company and one lead bank

Nanjing's rules explain how the company and banking changes are intended to work. Each project company has its own legal responsibilities for construction, quality, safety and delivery. Before handover, its parent company or investors are prohibited from diverting sales or financing money, withdrawing capital improperly or taking dividends early.

A lead bank, also called a host bank, becomes the main financial coordinator. It can lend alone or organize a group of banks to provide development loans. Nanjing requires project money, including development loans, the developer's own funds and completed home sales revenue, to be managed through accounts at that bank.

Jinhua applies unified lead bank account management to projects signing new development loan contracts after August 28. Changsha also requires new projects to gather their funds in dedicated accounts at the lead bank.

The aim is practical: money borrowed or collected for one development stays available for that development. Nanjing also requires a project company seeking closure after all homes have been delivered to identify a legal entity responsible for quality warranties or obtain construction quality insurance.

Mortgage timing changes the financing equation

Nanjing requires personal housing loans for projects obtaining presale permits after August 28, 2026, to be released only after completion has been officially recorded. The lender then pays the money into the supervised account. Projects with permits obtained on or before the cutoff continue under previous lending rules.

Jinhua makes a similar change for newly permitted projects, including loans through the housing provident fund system, which provides housing finance linked to employee and employer contributions. Xi'an preserves previous personal mortgage arrangements for qualifying projects that obtained planning permits before August 28 and had already received some presale permission.

Later mortgage disbursement removes an earlier source of construction cash. Development lending must cover more of the building period instead. Nanjing therefore calls for loan terms suited to construction schedules, with the first principal repayment generally falling after completion has been recorded. Loans are released in stages and paid for project construction, including payments to contractors and materials suppliers.

Changsha also delays the first principal repayment on development loans until after completion registration. The combined change is a shift in who finances the building period: developers and their banks carry more of it before buyers' mortgages are released.

Bank guarantees provide another form of flexibility. Wuhan supports their use to replace some supervised presale funds. Jinhua limits that replacement for projects under previous presale policies to 30 percent of the funds needed for completion and delivery. A bank guarantee substitutes a bank's payment commitment for part of the cash otherwise held under supervision.

Nanjing opens a route for mortgaged completed homes

Nanjing permits qualifying completed homes to be sold while a developer's land or construction mortgage is still in place, provided the developer, original mortgage bank and buyer agree. This addresses a cash flow problem: a developer may need sale proceeds to repay the loan that must be cleared for the property transaction.

The buyer's money enters a supervised account. The supervisory body uses it first to repay the original mortgage bank, after which the land or construction mortgage is removed. The arrangement creates a controlled sequence for settling the debt and completing the sale.

Changsha also allows qualifying sales of mortgaged homes with the mortgage holder's consent. Contracts must disclose the mortgage and promise a deadline for its cancellation. The mortgage must be cancelled before the sales contract can complete registration.

Nanjing combines this approach with earlier review of planning proposals during the land sale process. A winning bidder whose proposal has already passed review and remains unchanged can use the transaction confirmation to apply directly for relevant planning approvals. Some procedures, including detailed arrangements for phased sales and staged completion acceptance, still require further implementing measures.

What changes for housing supply and buyers

Pu Zhan, deputy director of the housing ministry's policy research centre, says completed home sales and higher presale thresholds can postpone the release of new supply in the short term. During a period when cities are trying to reduce unsold housing, he sees a slower arrival of new stock as a way to improve the balance between supply and demand.

The reforms follow a prolonged sales downturn. China's 100 largest developers recorded 207 billion yuan in new home sales in August 2025, down 17.6 percent from a year earlier, during a six month sales retreat. Lower prices and easier purchase rules had struggled to restore broad demand.

Activity later improved unevenly. During the March resale recovery in 2026, Shanghai recorded about 22,000 existing home transactions from March 1 to March 23, while Nanjing recorded 5,789 during the first three weeks. Those figures describe purchases of existing homes; the current reforms change how developers finance and sell newly built housing.

Wu Jing, director of Tsinghua University's real estate research centre, says the presale model encouraged developers to focus on turnover speed and scale. Selling completed homes requires greater reliance on their own capital and project financing, making the investment merits of each plot more important.

Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center, argues that allowing buyers to inspect finished homes pushes developers to pay more attention to quality, property services and local needs. Beijing's November 3 land sale shows planning changing alongside sales rules: the plot permits a raised platform design to use space above and below ground.

For households, the most immediate change is a greater chance to judge the finished building before making the main purchase. For developers, success depends more heavily on securing construction finance, controlling costs and completing homes that buyers want.

Key Points

• More than 20 cities have issued housing sales reform rules following the August 28 national package.
• New presale projects face a structural topping out requirement and tighter supervision of buyers' money.
• Early deposit ceilings vary, including 1 percent in Beijing, 3 percent in Shenzhen and Shanghai, and generally 5 percent in several other cities.
• Several cities allow developers to pay at least half the land price initially and settle the balance over as long as two years.
• Nanjing and Jinhua delay mortgage disbursement for newly permitted presale projects until completion has been officially recorded.
• Separate project companies and lead banks are intended to keep development money dedicated to construction and delivery.
• Transition arrangements allow some older projects to use previous presale conditions through 2027, or through 2028 for certain projects in Changsha.