(Yicai) Sept. 4 -- Property sales have rebounded in Beijing and Shanghai but risen less in Shenzhen and Guangzhou during the first weekend after first-tier cities eased their mortgage policies.

Beijing's real estate market benefited the most from the relaxed rules, followed by Shanghai, whereas Guangzhou was No. 4 among first-tier cities, Yicai learned after visiting the four cities, including Shenzhen.

From Aug. 30 to Sept. 1, the quadruplet announced they will consider eligible residents who do not currently own property equal to first-time buyers even if they previously owned housing. In China, first-time buyers enjoy lower interest rates and down payment ratios.

On Sept. 1, a company in Beijing sold five or six units at a project in Fengtai district with an average unit price of CNY100,000 (USD13,752) per square meter, per Li Wei, a realtor. The next day, they sold 10 more homes with a daily turnover of at least CNY100 million (USD13.8 million). Some potential buyers who were too slow to finalize the deal were left empty-handed, Li added.

High-end projects were in high demand. A project in Beijing with each house costing more than CNY30 million (USD4.1 million) received a total subscription of CNY5.6 billion (USD770 million) yesterday.

Home sellers are starting to require more qualifications from potential customers. Li said that if someone wants to buy a house, he needs to pay a deposit of CNY200,000 first and a down payment of at least 20 percent within seven days but ideally that should be 40 percent.

Rumors on social media claim sellers are seizing the opportunity to raise the prices but realtors in Beijing said that this is not widely observed. 

Since the policy changed, there have been more visits to new and pre-owned houses, Zhang Hongwei, founder of Jingjian Zhihe Information Consulting, wrote in an article. Projects in core urban areas in Shanghai have surged, Zhang added.

But Shenzhen is not as lucky. A property salesperson in the southeastern city said that they sold over 10 units at a project yesterday but another industry insider said that the general environment has not improved noticeably.

In Guangzhou, the situation is stable. There were not many visits during the weekend, a sales consultant for a project in Liwan district told Yicai. But this may be due to typhoon Saola, the person added.

Homeowners in Beijing believe that housing prices will grow in the future so they no longer give discounts and sellers in other big cities seem to think alike. In Shenzhen, second-hand housing listings and visits climbed to a certain extent, but transactions did not change much, Yicai learned.

Zhang said that a certain Shanghai real estate agency claimed that reservations to visit pre-owned housing jumped by 50 percent. However, the bull market for second-hand housing may arrive slowly because homeowners may be reluctant to sell if they believe prices are going up. In the meantime, buyers can expect to see temporary surges, Zhang added.

Editor: Emmi Laine