How Private Housing Buyers Respond to Housing Policy: Evidence from Xi'an, China

Private housing buyers' perceptions of housing policies and responses are key determinants of the effectiveness of policies, yet little attention has been paid to them. This article establishes a cognitive-behavioral model to explore how private housing buyers perceive housing policy and respond. Based on a survey conducted in Xi'an, China, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is applied to empirically analyze policy perception and response. The results show that individuals' perception and response vary across homeownership status. About 50% of renters and single-home owners postpone their housing purchase plan whereas 37.40% of multihome owners postpone housing purchase and 10.69% intend to sell their own houses after the implementation of the policy in question. Higher housing policy perception brings about lower housing price expectation, which in turn leads to delay of housing purchase or sale of self-owned houses. In addition, individuals who are female, working in a government sector, public institution or state-owned company, or paying more attention to the housing market are more likely to have higher housing policy perception, whereas older individuals are more likely to have lower housing policy perception. Education level, household income, and housing conditions positively affect the modification of the housing plan.