Hometown: Buyers look beyond metros

holiday,” said Yan Yuejin, research director of the E-House China R&D Institute.

“Average people have been doing more homework on property policies and mortgage measures before they make their decisions in the past few years.”

More than half of those buying properties in their hometowns are aged above 30, and merely 19 percent of them are single, according to the report, adding that 80 percent of them come from thirdand fourth-tier cities, and 70 percent of them are working in first- and second-tier cities.

The ever-expanding Chinese high-speed railway network has shortened travel time between work and home. Employers are according premium to human resources, as well as expanding to smaller or newer markets in China, which is encouraging talented professionals to think long term and create assets, in the form of homes in lower-tier cities, according to Zhang Bo, chief analyst of Anjuke.

“As more industries are going to the middle and west of China, many people who come from these areas and work in East and South of China are moving back home, as the salary gap is becoming narrower,” said Yan.

This is stabilizing the residential property market and will present an arena for property developers and agencies to enhance their competitiveness, said Lu.

In January, the average interest rate on home loans availed by first-time homebuyers was 5.43 percent nationwide, up 0.93 percent month-on-month, and up 21.75 percent year-on-year, the Shanghai Observer reported. Efforts will be made to curb bubbles in the property sector through monetary policy tightening.

For example, cities like Sanya in Hainan province and Zibo in Shandong province announced in February that they will cap prices of some of their new residential apartments. This suggests that some property markets in China may still be overheated.

Compared to home sales, home rentals are regarded a hot spot in the property market, more so because the central government has been emphasizing that homes are for people to live in, not for investors to seek high returns.