Redefining publicly shared space seen as a boost to realty

Experts read the move as sector's transformation into new pattern

Decisions by some Chinese cities to repeal publicly shared spaces is one of the latest efforts by local governments to boost the residential property sector by benefiting homebuyers, which suggests the real estate market is transforming to a new development pattern, said industry experts on Thursday.

Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei province, announced it would lift price caps on commercial housing, encourage home transactions after construction completion, and gradually scrap the convention of counting publicly shared spaces into buyers' housing space during transactions, according to a notice published on the city's housing and urban-rural development bureau on Tuesday.

"The move will benefit consumers for sure, as publicly shared spaces in some cities won't be counted into overall home spaces, and publicly shared spaces in residential property development won't be canceled," said Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China R&D Institute.