Price of courtyard houses immune to financial crisis

By Venus Lee

The sale and transfer of siheyuan or courtyard houses has increased since a new regulation on old Beijing homes took effect March 1.

“The regulation encourages individuals and units to purchase old houses and courtyards within the conservation district of istorical sites. Private capital injections into siheyuan will help protect old courtyards,” said Wen Hui, spokeswoman of Jingpinwanjia Real Estate Company.

The government can also help out. “Many old courtyards need to be renovated. If the owner wants to sell his or her siheyuan because he or she can’t afford the renovation expenses, the person can ask for help from thgovernment,” Wang Qiang, spokesman of the Municipal Construction Committee (MCC), said. “Would-be buyers might be better off working with big real estate firms, since the property rihts of many old courtyards are not clear. But the status of properties that agents control are clearly defined,” she said. There are 10,000 old courtyard homes in Beijing; among them, only 2,000 have clearly defined property rights, Wen said.

Due to the shortage of siheyuan with clear property rights, the sale price or rental cost of these old homes has not bowed to the financial crisis, according to Jingpinwanjia Real Estate Company.

“The selling price of siheyuan vary depending on their location. A courtyard in a common area is 30,000 to 50,000 yuan per square mete,” said Zhang Fan, spokesman of Shunyixing, an agency that sells and rents out siheyuan.

 Buyers have to pay in one go; bank loans or installments are not permitted.
Since 2006, however, many would-be buyers have instead chosen to rent siheyuan because of their exorbitant cost, Zhang of Shunyixing real estate agency said. “The annual rental cost of a 300 to 500-square-meter siheyuan in Dongcheng and Xicheng is 400,000 to 500,000 thousand.

Sales involving foreigners, however, need to be cleared by the Beijing Security Investigation Office for Foreign Projects. The office will assess if the deal involves an appropriate location or creates any “national security risks,” Wen said. But the previous stipulation of a one-year residey in Beijing has been scrapped under the Regulations of Protection and Renovation of Beijing Old Town Houses in the Conservation District of Historical Sites.

New owners who want to renovate their siheyuan need to follow regulations that aim to protect the original feature of ancient architecture. They need to get permission from the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau and the Municipal Commission of Urban Planning.