Why are old houses back in popularity?
As the embodiment of wealth and an investment tool for home buyers, the real estate industry is not only a carrier of life expectations, but also a sustenance of investment dreams. Throughout the past 20 years, China's property market has been like a high-speed train, housing prices have been rising, and houses have become an important carrier of wealth accumulation. Especially in popular first- and second-tier cities, it is not uncommon to see properties worth millions or even tens of millions, even old houses are worth a lot of money.
However, in this booming real estate market, not all properties hold their value. In the second-hand home market, the value of some properties will gradually decrease over time. Industry experts point out that the value of a property that is too old is often limited by the age of the property. Therefore, it is wiser for consumers who are interested in buying a second-hand home to choose a newer property.
So, why avoid old houses?There are three main reasons:
1. The living environment of old houses is generally not good. After all, houses are ultimately designed to meet people's living needs. Judging that a house is not good, the living environment is very important. And older houses, especially those built 20 years ago with stairs, tend to have a lot of problems. They tend to have no elevators, and most are not equipped with real estate companies. As a result, these old houses are gradually showing signs of disrepair over time. What's more, due to the lack of effective property management, the neighborhood management of old houses is chaotic, with more and more tenants, and the flow of people between neighbors has become complicated. This kind of environment is naturally difficult to meet the pursuit of quality of life of modern residential buyers.
2. The erosion of the years has made the basic equipment of the old house look old and dilapidated. For those who are familiar with the old community, the real test is not the old appearance of the house, but the gradual aging of the supporting facilities of daily life. Time is like a knife, and as time goes by, the infrastructure of the old house is like an eroded rock, gradually aging and deteriorating. Aging electrical wiring, broken water pipes, dilapidated public facilities, and barren green spaces are all spared. These conditions have a direct impact on the quality of life of the population and are very worrying.
It is often said that home is a haven of the soul, and neighbors are places where we spend quality time with our families. However, when there is a problem with these infrastructures, it will undoubtedly cause a lot of inconvenience to our daily lives. Imagine a sudden burst of water pipes and clear water turning into muddy water, or a clogged sewer and sewage flowing sideways, which is enough to give you a headache. These problems not only affect the normal life of residents, but also make people question the living environment of the old community.
3.The design concept of the old community is no longer in line with the living habits of modern people, and it seems outdated. In the past, due to the scarcity of housing resources, the design of commercial housing was more concerned about whether it could accommodate more people, and the result was that the rooms were larger and the layout was not reasonable. Nowadays, the layout of many old houses seems to be unable to meet the living habits and needs of modern young people. Although the shared area is not large at first glance, if it is evaluated according to the modern design concept, its actual utilization efficiency is not high. This lag in design concepts means that the old community has lost its competitiveness to attract young people.
In addition, the number of cars in the past was relatively small, and the need for parking spaces was often ignored in community planning. However, with the development of the times, the car has become one of the essential means of transportation for all families, and many families even own two or more cars. As a result, the problem of insufficient parking spaces is becoming more and more prominent. Although some old communities try to transform the green belt into parking spaces, this cannot fundamentally solve the problem of parking difficulties. This is also one of the reasons why many young people hesitate to choose to live in the old community because of the difficulty of parking.
These are just some of the flaws that exist in old houses. However, if you dig deeper, the value of the old community goes far beyond that. With the acceleration of urban renewal, the current policy of renovating old houses has gradually replaced the renovation of slums in the past, and as a result, many old houses have missed the opportunity to be demolished. As a result, in recent years, the attractiveness of older houses in the market has gradually waned and they have lost their former luster.
However, the problem of old houses has not gone away, and according to the recent policies of the real estate market, some old houses will become popular again.
1. The renovation of old communities has reached a new level, the age requirements have been reduced, and the transformation efforts have been increased.
According to the latest "2023 Guidelines for the Renovation of Old Residential Areas" released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, priority will be given to renovation projects built in early stages or residential areas with high demand for residential renovation. Initially targeted for settlements built before 2000, the program will now be expanded to include settlements built before the end of 2005, depending on local financial support. This adjustment marks the continued expansion of the old house renovation program.
The renovation project covers a wide range of areas, including areas of livelihood such as elderly care, childcare, education, health and sports, as well as the addition and renovation of infrastructure such as water, drainage, gas, heat, electricity and communications. During the planning process, we are committed to ensuring the coherence of the refurbishment plan, the rational allocation and use of funds, and the synergy of the various refurbishment projects to ensure that the refurbishment projects are carried out efficiently and harmoniously.
It is worth mentioning that the renovation project is not limited to a simple renovation of the floor and walls, but a complete and thorough modernization. Starting from the premise of maintaining the stability of the basic structure such as the layout and room type of the community, we will carry out comprehensive renovation in accordance with the standards of the modern community, and strive to make all the changes that should be made, so as to create a more comfortable and convenient living environment for residents. This is not only a material transformation of the old community, but also an overall improvement of the quality of life of residents.
2.The renovation of urban villages and old residential areas is progressing at an unprecedented speed and scale.
Demolition and resettlement are the center, supplemented by well-planned renovation measures. Since the transformation of urban villages, etc"Three major projects"Since the establishment of a new model in the real estate industry, the first financial special loan has been quickly put in place to help speed up the start of renovation projects across the country. As of February 20, 2024, 223 projects in 32 cities across the country have received a total of 36 billion yuan in loan support, which is unprecedented in history.
In addition to urban villages, special attention has been paid to old houses that are strategically located but in disrepair. In order to revitalize these areas, we actively attract real estate developers to participate in the demolition and relocation work, and plan to build modern commercial housing communities. This initiative not only solves the problem of serious aging of old houses, but also injects new vitality into the renewal and development of the city.
For homeowners, demolition compensation is not only a reasonable compensation for past residential rights, but also an important opportunity to improve the housing and living environment.
Obviously, with the expansion of the scope of the old community and the advancement of the demolition work, there are two groups of people who will benefit from it: 1Residential areas built before the end of 2000-2005. After careful transformation, these communities have a new look, not only the living environment has a new look, completely bid farewell to the dilapidated old appearance, but also avoid the cumbersome process of demolition and reconstruction. After the renovation of the old community, not only the quality of the living environment has been greatly improved, but also many houses have been successfully equipped with elevators, which undoubtedly brings great convenience to the lives of residents, and also indicates that the value of these houses will continue to increase and realize asset appreciation. As a result, the owners of these old neighborhoods will benefit directly from it.
2.Old houses with safety hazards. Some of the existing clusters of old houses are quite old, often more than 40 years old. Due to the limitations of technology and building materials at the time, these old houses were not built with modern monolithic reinforced concrete structures, but with prefabricated panels. However, the life expectancy of a prefabricated floor slab is usually only 50 years. As a result, older houses that have crossed the 40-year threshold often start to have problems with their structural quality and the living conditions become worse and worse. Due to these factors, there is a high probability that these houses will be demolished in the near future.
What's more, because these houses already have serious safety hazards, and there is no way to protect lives through reinforcement or repair, the only solution is to tear down and rebuild. Therefore, for residents living in old houses that already have quality problems, the demolition of houses in the future is almost inevitable. As a result, the owners of these houses will also benefit from it. That's why there are always people who buy these old houses specifically.