Zhengzhou Plans to Raise the Age Limit for Housing Provident Fund Loans, Following Adjustments in Beijing and Other Cities

Zhengzhou will further optimize its property market policies, proposing to adjust the upper age limit for individual housing loan borrowers under the housing provident fund system. The Zhengzhou Housing Provident Fund Management Center recently released a notice on its official website to solicit public opinions on this matter.

The draft for public comment shows that, in order to implement the national gradual retirement delay policy and better leverage the housing provident fund system's role in providing security, Zhengzhou plans to adjust the upper age limit for individual housing loan borrowers under the housing provident fund system, in line with the guidance from relevant ministries and commissions.

For employees who delay retirement, when applying for individual housing loans under the housing provident fund system, the loan maturity can be extended to 68 years old for men and 63 years old for women, or up to 5 years after the borrower's legal retirement age, with the maximum loan term not exceeding 30 years. The public consultation period is from April 23 to May 6, 2025.

"This adjustment to the housing provident fund policy will further reduce residents' home purchase costs and monthly payment pressure, helping to promote the release of housing demand," said Liang Botao, general manager of the Henan branch of China Index Academy, in an interview.

"Zhengzhou is not the first city to extend the upper age limit for housing provident fund loans, and many cities may adjust the upper age limit for individual housing loan borrowers under the housing provident fund system in the future," said Wang Congyuan, chief analyst at 58.com and Anjuke in Zhengzhou.

In fact, several cities including Beijing, Xi'an, Kunming, and Qingdao have already adjusted the upper age limit for individual housing loan borrowers under the housing provident fund system.

On December 31, 2024, the Beijing Housing Provident Fund Management Center issued a notice adjusting the upper age limit for housing provident fund loan borrowers from a maximum of 65 years old to 68 years old, with no changes to other policies related to loan terms.

On January 22 this year, Xi'an adjusted the upper age limit for individual housing provident fund loan borrowers, stipulating that the borrower's age should not exceed the legal retirement age (58 for women and 63 for men in principle) when applying for the loan, with the loan term not exceeding 30 years and the loan maturity not exceeding 5 years after the borrower's legal retirement date.

On March 19, Kunming adjusted the upper age limit for borrowers, stating that the loan maturity for individual housing provident fund loans should not exceed 5 years after the legal retirement age, with the maximum age being 68 for men and 63 for women, and the maximum loan term being 30 years. Qingdao also extended the upper age limit for housing provident fund loan borrowers by 3 years in its housing provident fund loan policy issued on March 27.

Wang Congyuan pointed out that the adjustment to the upper age limit for borrowers in this round of housing provident fund policies is mainly based on two considerations.

"First, it helps to release replacement demand. As the overall population structure of society adjusts, extending the loan age can reduce the pressure on homebuyers, facilitating the sale of old homes and the purchase of new ones. Second, it aligns with the retirement delay policy, alleviating the housing pressure for older users," Wang Congyuan said in an interview.

Analysts noted that for Zhengzhou, optimizing housing provident fund measures is part of the city's package of policies to stabilize the property market.

Since the beginning of this year, Zhengzhou has continued to implement the property market stabilization policies introduced last year, effectively supporting the stabilization and rebound of the property market through measures such as housing "trade-in," repurchase of existing homes, and housing ticket resettlement.

Liang Botao mentioned that in addition to optimizing housing provident fund policies, Zhengzhou also introduced a plan in March this year to use local government special bonds to repurchase idle land, clarifying the scope of land acquisition, pricing mechanisms, and work procedures.

"After the plan was introduced, the Zhengzhou Economic Development Zone announced the first batch of 13 plots to be acquired using special bond funds, with the proposed acquisition prices all above 70% of the land purchase price, and some plots reaching about twice the land purchase price. The reasonable acquisition prices have effectively increased the willingness of enterprises to participate. It is expected that the disposal of existing land in various regions will accelerate, which will play a positive role in improving the supply-demand relationship in Zhengzhou's property market," Liang Botao said.

In terms of market performance, according to CRIC data, in March 2025, the transaction area of new commercial residential properties in Zhengzhou was 320,000 m², up 72% MoM and 13% YoY. In Q1 this year, the transaction area of new commercial residential properties in Zhengzhou was 790,000 m², up 1% YoY.

In terms of destocking, the average destocking rate of new homes in Zhengzhou in March was 43%, a significant increase of 34 percentage points from 9% in February and 36 percentage points from 7% in March last year. In terms of inventory, the new home inventory in Zhengzhou in March was 6.39 million m², with a digestion cycle of 17.3 months.

"With the continuous efforts of existing and incremental policies, the confidence and expectations in Zhengzhou's property market have improved. Both new and second-hand home sales in Q1 achieved YoY growth, and market activity in March significantly increased, further consolidating the good trend of market stabilization and recovery," Liang Botao added.