The shift in how homes are sold is being accompanied by broader changes in property financing. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has recently released guidelines to improve financing mechanisms for property developers through stocks, bonds, asset-backed securities and real estate investment trusts, with a focus on meeting their reasonable financing needs.

　　Zhang Bo, president of the 58 Anjuke Institute, said a key change is a shift in the underlying logic of developer financing. In the past, financing decisions were based more heavily on a developer's overall scale and brand reputation, meaning risks at the company level could lead to financing constraints across the board, Zhang said.

　　Going forward, greater weight will be placed on the merits of individual projects, allowing quality projects to gain more access to funding, he said.

　　Changes are also being made to real estate credit management. The People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration have introduced differentiated loan terms for presale and completed-home projects to better match their respective construction and sale cycles.

　　Under the new rules, loans for presale projects should in principle have a maturity of no more than three years, with a maximum of five years. For completed-home projects, the standard maturity is no more than five years, with a maximum of seven years.

　　The measures also extend the maximum term of individual housing loans from 30 years to 40 years, giving borrowers and lenders greater flexibility.

　　"The longer loan term means less pressure from monthly repayments. For families looking to upgrade their homes, it is a tangible benefit," said a Wuhan resident surnamed Wang, who visited several residential projects with her family over the past weekend.