The concept of 'trade in' for automobiles, household appliances, and industrial equipment has become a hot topic in 2024, bringing tangible benefits to both the general public and businesses. The real estate policy is blowing strongly, and "trade in" will naturally not be absent. Housing "trade in" refers to the practice of government designated institutions or real estate companies encouraging and assisting residents who already own homes to sell their old for new through acquisition, replacement, subsidies, and other means. Statistics show that over 150 cities across the country have launched housing "trade in" programs to meet residents' demand for improved housing. Ms. Zeng, who has locked in her new house in Zhengzhou, registered for the local housing "trade in" program through a mini program. She told Sanlihe that according to the process, qualification approval should be carried out first, and then the old house valuation should be conducted. Consumers can first see if the quotation is acceptable before considering whether to buy a new house. During the qualification review, what impressed Ms. Zeng the most was the requirement to fill in the completion time of the house, which requires that the age of the house should not exceed 20 years. Mr. Zhang from Beijing has also signed up for the "trade in" program for commercial housing, which mainly accepts units under 120 square meters. Old house loans must be settled without considering decoration conditions. He participated in the activity of his desired new house project, which allowed him to lock in the new house before selling the old one, thus eliminating any worries. This is the biggest difference between "old for new" housing and regular replacement. Specifically, the popular model is that after the buyer signs an agreement and pays a deposit, the intermediary agency will simultaneously list the old house and promote its sale. For example, in Beijing, if a resident who purchases a house fails to successfully sell their old house within 90 days, they can unconditionally apply for a refund of the deposit, with a refund period not exceeding 15 days. The essence of the three modes of housing "trade in" is to activate the second-hand housing market, drive sales in the new housing market, and achieve two-way flow of existing and incremental housing. According to the analysis of Sanlihe, there are currently three main modes of housing "trade in", namely helping to sell, collecting old houses, and subsidies, aimed at shortening the replacement cycle, reducing replacement costs, simplifying the sales process, and enhancing market transaction heat. Among them, the "helping to sell" model is the most common, which means that real estate brokerage agencies cooperate with local real estate development companies to prioritize the promotion and sale of old houses. If the old house is successfully sold, a new house can be purchased. The biggest variable of the "help sell" model is whether it can "sell old" within the agreed deadline, while the "collect old" model does not require a trade in process. The "old collection" model is mainly led by the government, which directly acquires existing stock housing through state-owned platforms and other means for the purpose of providing affordable housing. Some places also combine this model with policies such as urban village renovation and housing vouchers. In addition, many cities have introduced "trade in" subsidy policies, providing certain housing subsidies or tax reductions to residents who sell their own homes and purchase new ones. Over the past year, various regions have been continuously optimizing and enriching policies in the process of promoting the "old for new" housing policy, integrating different models, and playing a positive role in stabilizing the real estate market and increasing vitality. But at the execution level, Sanlihe has noticed some issues that need to be studied and resolved. For example, the frequency of optimizing trading policies through "helping to sell" is the highest in various regions, but the actual effect largely depends on market conditions. For example, the overall scale of the "old collection" model of local state-owned enterprises is still small. A real estate agent told Sanlihe that the biggest problem in implementing policies is a lack of motivation. The policy of 'exchanging old for new' housing is still in the stage of promotion and encouragement, lacking special policy support. Chen Wenjing, Director of Policy Research at the China Academy of Sciences, believes that expanding the scope of the 'exchanging old for new' housing policy may be one of the important directions for policy optimization in various regions. Such as expanding the types of properties for acquiring old houses, expanding the scope of replaceable new houses, expanding the areas for acquiring old houses, and even cross city acquisitions of old houses, to strengthen the agglomeration effect of big cities and continuously inject new momentum into promoting the stabilization of the real estate market. (New Society)