Sichuan government to stimulate property sales

Some local governments in Sichuan province have launched policies to attract buyers from outside the province amid the slowdown of property sales and high housing stock.

Leshan, for instance, has provided subsidies and lowered some requirements for buyers from other places. Panzhihua is seeing a 27.4 percent increase in annual investment in the convalescence industry. It plans to build a place for the retired, tourists and people in recuperation in 5 to 10 years.

A number of property projects in Sichuan will attend the International Property Expo Beijing for the first time in September.

This is part of the Sichuan municipal government's efforts to stabilize and stimulate the local real estate market by attracting buyers outside Sichuan.

Yang Rongliang from the Beijing Office of Sichuan municipal government said the move is aimed at attracting more real estate investment to Sichuan. Most projects are from Chengdu and around Panzhihua, according to Yang.

Despite recent recovery of the real estate market in the country's big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, smaller cities are still suffering from a lack of buyers. Commercial houses in third-tier cities take on average 20.7 months before being sold, according to China Index Academy. The number for first- and second-tier cities are 11.2 and 14.1 months respectively.

The real estate industry contributes more than 36 percent of local government tax revenue, according to Li Fuzhong, spokesman for the Sichuan Bureau of Housing and Urban Planning.

Sichuan Real Estate Network has teamed with Xinhua Network to form Sichuan House-buying Service Center to help non-natives purchase property in Sichuan.

Duan Xinchuan, manager of the service center, said it will provide policy and legal consultation, a house inspection service and contract recording service. It will also meditate in possible disputes between clients and real estate agencies.