Three departments: Improve pre-sale management and promote the sale of existing properties. The full amount of home purchase funds must be deposited into a regulatory account.

On August 28, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice regarding the improvement of the commodity housing sales system. The notice emphasized the strengthening of pre-sale fund supervision. Housing and urban-rural development departments at the municipal and county levels are responsible for the supervision of pre-sale funds, with specific supervisory tasks assigned to housing fund regulatory agencies. These agencies must sign fund supervision agreements with real estate developers and establish specialized regulatory accounts at the project's main bank. All funds paid by homebuyers, including down payments and personal housing loans, must be deposited into these regulatory accounts. The fund supervision will be lifted after the completion acceptance of the commodity housing project and when supporting facilities such as water, electricity, gas, and heating meet delivery conditions. If real estate developers default and cannot deliver the properties on time, homebuyers have the right to terminate the purchase contract in accordance with the agreement, and developers must refund the purchase funds and bear responsibility for the breach of contract. Real estate developers should establish the relevant rights and responsibilities regarding the deposit of purchase funds into the regulatory accounts within the purchase contract with the homebuyers. The original text is as follows: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ministry of Natural Resources Financial Regulatory Administration Notice on Improving the Commodity Housing Sales System To: Housing and Urban-Rural Development Departments (Committees, Management Committees) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau and Natural Resources Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and all financial regulatory bureaus: In order to implement the decision-making arrangements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council on accelerating the establishment of a new model for real estate development, to adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and to steadily advance the reform of the commodity housing sales system, the following measures are notified: 1. Improve Pre-sale Management of Commodity Housing All localities must standardize the conditions for commodity housing pre-sale, strengthen the supervision of pre-sale funds, ensure the safety of pre-sale funds, effectively prevent risks associated with the delivery of commodity housing, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of homebuyers. (1) Standardize pre-sale conditions. For commodity housing projects that are to be sold in advance, the main structure of individual buildings should be completed, and specific conditions are to be determined by each locality according to practical circumstances. (2) Strengthen the supervision of pre-sale funds. Housing and urban-rural development departments at the municipal and county levels shall fulfill their responsibilities for supervising pre-sale funds, with housing fund regulatory agencies taking on specific supervisory work. Housing fund regulatory agencies should sign fund supervision agreements with real estate developers and establish fund supervision accounts at the project's main bank. All funds paid by homebuyers, including down payments and personal housing loans, must be deposited into these regulatory accounts. The fund supervision will be lifted after the completion acceptance of the commodity housing project and when supporting facilities (water, electricity, gas, and heating) meet delivery conditions. If real estate developers default and cannot deliver the properties on time, homebuyers have the right to terminate the purchase contract in accordance with the agreement, and developers must refund the purchase funds and bear responsibility for the breach of contract. Real estate developers should establish the relevant rights and responsibilities regarding the deposit of purchase funds into the regulatory accounts within the purchase contract with the homebuyers. (3) Optimize the management of pre-sale activities for existing projects. For commodity housing projects that have obtained construction project planning permits prior to the implementation of this notice, the conditions for pre-sale and the supervision of pre-sale funds will follow the original policy provisions. Reasonable regulatory limits should be determined, pre-sale fund usage optimized, and strict supervision of pre-sale funds should be enforced to ensure their safety. 2. Promote Commodity Housing Sales of Existing Properties Effectively and Orderly All localities are encouraged to effectively and orderly implement the sale of existing properties, achieving what you see is what you get, reducing disputes over the delivery of commodity housing, fundamentally preventing delivery risks, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of homebuyers, and accelerating the establishment of a new model for real estate development. (1) Promote the sale of existing properties. From the effective date of this notice, new commodity housing projects with land transferred and commodity housing projects on already transferred land that have not obtained construction engineering planning permits should prioritize existing property sales; commodity housing projects that have obtained construction engineering planning permits are encouraged to implement existing property sales. (2) Existing property sales shall be subject to record-keeping management. Real estate developers must complete project completion acceptance and other matters in accordance with relevant requirements, submitting the existing property sales plan and requisite proofs of delivery conditions to the housing and urban-rural development departments at the municipal and county levels for record-keeping. Real estate developers should sell according to the existing property sales plan, ensuring that the sold houses and land use rights are free from mortgages, seizures, or any other transaction restrictions, ensuring clear ownership of land and houses. (3) Implement a deposit system for existing property sales. For commodity housing projects sold as existing properties, upon obtaining construction project permits, real estate developers may enter into a purchase deposit contract with homebuyers and collect a small deposit legally. The purchase deposit contract should specify the deposit amount, commodity housing sales price, delivery time, and responsibilities for failure to perform in a timely manner, protecting both parties legitimate rights. The housing and urban-rural development departments at the municipal and county levels will fulfill their responsibilities for deposit supervision, while housing fund regulatory agencies will undertake deposit supervision work, establishing a deposit supervision account at the projects main bank. Once the house meets delivery conditions, the deposit supervision will be lifted. If the real estate developer defaults and cannot deliver the property on time, the homebuyer has the right to terminate the deposit contract as per the agreement, and the real estate developer is required to legally return the deposit and bear breach of contract responsibilities. Each locality should formulate model text for purchase deposit contracts based on practical conditions. 3. Strengthen Coordination of Policy Measures All localities must simultaneously improve related policies on land supply, financial support, and other issues for commodity housing projects, optimize project development, construction, sales, and real estate registration management, and strengthen policy coordination and ties to improve management service effectiveness. (1) Optimize land supply management. Municipal and county levels should optimize territorial space planning and land utilization methods, rationally determine the size of real estate land supply according to housing development plans and annual plans. They should coordinate planning and reasonably layout residential land, optimizing land transfer plans, which can be transferred with planning proposals. Real estate developers must use their own funds to purchase land and may pay in installments as per national regulations, with specific payment ratios and timelines determined by the municipal and county governments. For projects sold as existing properties, relevant information regarding existing property sales should be publicly disclosed in land transfer announcements. (2) Increase financing support. Real estate projects will be managed under a main bank system, where real estate project development companies and main banks mutually select each other, with one main bank designated for each project. The main bank may independently or lead the formation of a syndicate to provide development loans and other financing services. If real estate project development companies apply for development loans by mortgaging land use rights, they should collectively set up a mortgage for individual land use rights; related methods will be formulated separately. Support real estate project development companies in conducting financing through various means such as equity and bonds. For projects implementing existing property sales and pre-sales, reasonable financing needs should be met according to market principles, with the issuance of development loans aligned with project construction timelines. (3) Improve development and construction management. The development and construction of commodity housing will be based on project development companies. A sound engineering quality assurance system for commodity housing projects should be established, with the primary responsibility for engineering quality resting with project development companies, while surveying, design, construction, and supervision units must fulfill their main responsibilities. Optimize the engineering construction approval processes, shorten administrative approval times, and effectively manage the entire process of planning, housing design, construction, completion acceptance, and delivery of commodity housing projects. Enhance the quality of real estate project development, building safe, comfortable, green, and smart good houses. (4) Implement delivery of property rights certificates upon delivery of houses. Generally, the initial registration of houses should be processed before selling existing properties. Optimize the processes involving online signing of sales contracts, real estate registration, and mortgage loan processing in commodity housing sales, strengthen collaborative efforts, and ensure that homebuyers receive their property rights certificates simultaneously upon delivery of commodity housing. Provinces and autonomous regions should strengthen the guidance and supervision of commodity housing sales in their cities. Municipal and county levels should develop implementation rules, strengthen policy interpretation, create a conducive public opinion environment, and promote the high-quality development of real estate. This notice is effective from the date of publication. Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ministry of Natural Resources Financial Regulatory Administration August 28, 2026 This article is selected from the "Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development" official website. Edited by Chen Siyu.