[photopress:Shanghaidowntownapartments.jpg,full,alignright]First, an apology for the ‘never never’ in the headline. It is an apposite phrase in Britain for making a down payment and the installments. Sometimes called ‘Sixpence down and chase me for the rest.’
In a far, far more sophisticated form it has been introduced by a real estate developer in Shanghai, allowing buyers to pay the down payment in an installment plan.
The new sales plan has been advertised in the housing office at Xinhu Pearl Garden, the apartment complex located in downtown Shanghai.
Buyers pay RMB100 thousand or US12,500 as down payment instead of paying the state-specified 30 percent of an apartment’s total price up front. The rest of the down payment can be paid periodically from October to February of next year.
Gao Zenghua is the marketing manager of the real estate developer and he said, ‘The buyers don’t need to apply for a loan from the bank until they pay the full down payment. By then, their apartments will have been completed. It will be re-assuring for buyers.’
However, on the first day of the promotion, there weren’t as many customers as expected. The developer has only been selling one apartment a day, a number far below the one hundred deals closed everyday when the real estate market was hot over a year ago.
Insiders believe many residents are still waiting and watching the future development of the market after the series of state regulations are implemented.
Zhang Hongming is a real estate expert at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. He said, ‘Under the current market situation, we should give this installment plan on down payments some applause. It provides consumers tangible benefit, relieving their pressure on having to raise cash. But this benefit is subtle and indirect.’
Source: China Daily
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