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News and Insights
The Ox year Spring Festival has passed. Whether you were the "stay for holiday" or go home for reunion, the memory of the new year celebritation seems to be yesterday. But in a twinkling of an eye, the first quarter of 2021 is about to pass. We find that from the third quarter of 2020 to this year, there have been many noteworthy changes in the rental market in Shanghai. iReloChina has also sorted out some issues of concern and would like to share them with you one by one.
Q: Many people feel that from last year to this year, renting houses in Shanghai has become a scramble. What is the reason for the booming rental market in Shanghai?
A: In the first quarter of 2020, the rental market in Shanghai was once in a downturn. Under the impact of the epidemic, the global economy was in a state of stagnation, which greatly affected the consumer confidence of tenants. Multinational enterprises also began to reduce or stop sending employees to China, resulting in the increase of vacancy rate and the decrease of rent in Shanghai in the first quarter. However, with a series of effective control by the government, the domestic epidemic situation quickly improved, and at the same time, with the outbreak of the epidemic situation globally, many overseas Chinese including Chinese students who work or study abroad have begun to choose to return home. Beijing, Shanghai and other first tier cities have become the mainstream target cities. I believe many people have heard the saying of "studying abroad in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou". This part of the demand has also led to a sharp rise in the demand for whole apartment rental housing. Meanwhile, the high-end rental market, due to the rapid growth of the housing market at the beginning of the year, has become the mainstream target cities After the outbreak of the epidemic, the backlog of house purchase demand was released, and the transaction volume of stock houses rose to the highest level in recent four years. The rise in the price of sales also further promoted the rise of rents. We can see from the following statistics What we know.
In 2020, the second-hand housing market in Shanghai will be more active and the turnover will increase year on year. According to the statistics of the city's real estate trading center, the online signature area of the city's stock houses is 24.9543 million square meters, an increase of 19.9% over the previous year. Among them, the online signature area of stock housing was 22.4623 million square meters, an increase of 24.4%. (source: Shanghai Bureau of Statistics)
Taking a closer look at the rental market in Shanghai, with the current housing ownership rate of 63.2% (data source: Shanghai Blue Book - Shanghai social development report in 2019), there are nearly 8.8 million rental people in the 24 million population, of which, as of the end of February 2021 There are about 270000 foreigners working in Shanghai, of which about 50000 are Category A work permit talents. The number of foreigners in Shanghai ranks the first in China (source: Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission). At the same time, in order to attract more talents, Shanghai has relaxed a series of talent settlement policies. To sum up, the promotion of policies, the heating up of the market and the return of talents have promoted the booming of the rental market step by step, and it has become a common phenomenon that one house is hard to find.
Q: In view of the current rental market, what good suggestions can help tenants rent their favorite house?
A: Here are some suggestions for your reference:
The time of house inspection should be flexible. Don't wait for concentrated house inspection.
The way of house viewing is not limited to on-the-spot house viewing, and video house viewing is also an effective way. A gentle reminder: Video house viewing and reservation is more recommended to be a service apartment project managed by company, and the actual house supply of individual owners may deviate from the video (it is necessary to be cautious when booking).
It's also necessary to make a down payment. Of course, you must sign an agreement to protect your own interests before you deliver the down payment.
Q: With the bankruptcy of Danke Apartment and the negative news of long term renting apartment managed by asset management comapanies, how should tenants choose?
A: On September 1, 2020, Shanghai Real Estate Brokers Association issued the "housing rental market risk tips". This policy gives a hint to the operation and risk of the housing rental market in the near future, especially focuses on the problems such as the burst of long-term rental apartments. The document points out that we should choose the apartment brand with good reputation. In view of the long-term rental apartment burst event, in fact, it shows that some small brand long-term rental apartment business risk. The policy is clear that companies operating without a license, operating beyond the scope of business, listed in abnormal business, failing to submit business information, bad credit, and having illegal records need to be carefully selected. At the same time, for landlords and individual tenants, we need to be alert to the problems of "high in and low out, long collection and short payment", that is, to guard against the risks under this kind of business model. In addition, the policy also suggests a risk, that is, "the longer the payment cycle, the greater the risk.". This is also a new situation in the past two years. In order to speed up financing, some long-term rental apartment enterprises often have such payment cycle constraints, which need to be vigilant. Subsequent tenants should also pay enough attention to and understand the payment cycle. In conclusion, when choosing long-term rental apartments, the following two points need to be noted
Understanding of apartment brand and background, especially financial strength and operation mode.
Contract and payment term, avoid contract risk, and try to take the form of monthly payment.
Of course, choosing a credible realtor will also effectively avoid these risks. For example, before recommending a house, consultant from iReloChina will check the landlord's qualification and relevant compliance documents, and will continue to pay attention to the operation of the brand side. When necessary, we will issue early warning notice for the tenant or the tenant company to effectively avoid risks and guard the tenant's financial security.
Generally speaking, in the beginning of 2021, we can always notice that Hot Rent, In-Demand,Already Taken as hottest words on marketing, iReloChina hopes to help those who have such needs to rent the house they like through our professional help!
Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, called Chang'an in ancient times, during Xi'an’s 3,100 year development, 13 dynasties placed their capitals here, so far, Xi'an enjoys equal fame with Athens, Cairo, and Rome as one of the four major ancient civilization capitals.
In 2020, the permanent resident population of Xi'an exceeds 10.2 million, covering an area of 10096 square kilometers. In 2019, Xi'an's GDP is 932.1 billion yuan.
In recent years, with the internationalization of Xi'an, more and more foreign employees of multinational enterprises choose to work and live in Xi'an Today, we will introduce Qujiang Area in Xi’an, the most convenient area for living in Xi'an. As a new urban development zone established by Xi'an City, it is dominated by cultural and tourism industry. We will help you understand how Qujiang Area has become the first choice for expatriate families.
The residential areas of Qujiang are mainly distributed in an orderly manner, mainly focusing on Qujiang pool and Jindi Plaza. We can feel the distribution of the whole residential area of Qujiang from the following figure. There are more than 30 well-known residential compounds, which form mature residential areas, many super mall, parks, green spaces, kindergartens and supermarkets around this area.
Among them, Jindi's many residential compound constitute the first-line residential district around the lake. Today, we will introduce three of them:
LakeCity Phase 8
It is welcomed for its superior geographical location and complete supporting facilities.
LakeCity Phase One
The green rate is very high, and the housing type is mostly 3-4 room large-size aparement, which can easily meet the needs of family customers.
Qujiang Mansion
It covers a large area, with villas as the main part and peripheral high-rise apartments buildings, compound has its own kindergarten and other related facilities, which makes life super convenient.
Overview of Apartment Rental in Qujiang Area
Layout: 2-4 Bedrooms
Size：80-210 sq.m
Rental: 6,000-20,000 yuan/month
Qujiang District is rich in kindergarten resources. Almost every Compound has one or two kindergartens within walking distance. Among them, Detai International kindergarten and Eaton House are the most popular with their own professional international kindergarten background, and Kid Castle bilingual kindergarten is also a choice for many families.
Detai International Kindergarten
Eton house international kindergarten
It is concentrated in ruisan residential area in Qujiang, but you don't have to worry about the overcrowding of nearby mallas and supermarkets. There are all kinds of shopping centers in Qujiang. There is a shopping center with complete functions within 10 minutes' drive. In addition, the cafes and bars along the lake also provide you with a good place for leisure.
JinDi Plaza
One stop for all life experience super mall.
Joy City
Fashion trend gathering mall
Golden Eagle
High end lifestyle mall
Furong New World
Night life in Qujiang starts here.
We will introduce Xi'an International School and service apartment brand in the next article. We believe Xi'an will attract more expatriate families to live and work with its special geographical location and mature international supporting facilities. We will provide you with one-stop residential and relocation service and welcome to call for consultation.
If you are in China for business, studies or for any other reason that requires you to stay in the country for a while, you will need to open an account with a bank.
First, it is important to know that you cannot use your foreign credit card everywhere in China. For instance, you cannot use it for taxis, supermarkets, etc. You can only use it in hotels, some restaurants and shopping centers for example. Moreover, your home bank will likely charge you international ATM fees (waived with some banks) if you use your foreign card for withdrawals. There are some other fees when you pay by card, but also an international currency exchange fee which is usually about 3%.
The commissions for exchanging money or withdrawing money at Chinese banks are much smaller if you have a Chinese bank account.
Having a Chinese bank card is really useful since you can withdraw cash and pay by card almost everywhere. You can withdraw cash from the ATM and even deposit cash in some of them. You can also add your Chinese bank card in the WeChat application and pay with it many things such as the rent, taxis, supermarkets, restaurants… Indeed, WeChat is really popular and practical in China.
If you don’t speak Chinese, try to ask a local friend or a colleague to go to the bank with you in order to help you if you have some questions, but it is not really necessary as you can do it as it is pretty simple.
First, you will have to fill out an account opening application form. You must ensure that there are no spelling errors in your name because if it is the case, this can cause problems when you use the online account or WeChat account.
The procedure is very simple since you just have to bring your passport, a proof of residence, to give your Chinese phone number and to make a first deposit. The employment pass, student pass or work permit are sometimes required by some banks. Application fees should not exceed 40 RMB (Some banks might make you pay around 15 RMB for the card they give you such as ICBC).
The process is usually instantaneous. In fact, you will have a debit card and a checkbook as soon as your account will be opened. You will have to sign a few other documents and choose your password (six-digit).
If you want to manage your bank account by internet or by the smartphone application, you can ask it to the banker, or make purchases online and you will have access to those services. Otherwise, it won’t work.
Before opening a Chinese credit card, it might be interesting to know if the bank of your country has some partnerships with Chinese banks. If you choose Bank of China, you can easily proceed to electronic money transfer from your foreign account to your local account because this bank allows IBAN and SWIFT transfers.
However, money transfer from China to your foreign account is controlled. Indeed, you should ask for an authorization from the Chinese authorities in order to verify that the amount of the transfer is lower than your monthly salary.
• Bank of China
• HSBC China
• Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ISBC)
• Agricultural Bank of China
• Construction Bank of China
It is obvious that the most important factor to consider when choosing your bank is convenience. You should choose the nearest bank branch of your neighborhood or of your office because your account will be tied to the specific branch in which you will open it. So if you face some problems such as the loss of your bank card, the change of your password, you will need to go back to this bank branch.
• You will be charged 2 RMB for each withdrawal from another bank.
• For most travelers, using cash is the easiest way to pay for many things in China.
• Withdrawal from ATM cannot generally exceed 2500 RMB for each transaction except some banks. So if you need to withdraw one more time from your foreign credit card, you will be charged two times.
• You can withdraw money from your foreign credit card only in some ATM in China bearing the PLUS or CIRCUS indications.
• If you plan to open a bank account in China, you must read the terms and conditions carefully, especially the section on banking fees and charges. You can find it on the websites of the banks. You can check it out and do a comparison with other banks before choosing a specific one.
