Video>> Beijing new property prices fall in 2011 H1
 |
| (File Photo) |
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhuanet) – Central authorities have ordered provincial governments to report their progress in curbing rising property prices and prepare a list of cities where home-purchasing restrictions will be imposed, a Shanghai Securities News report said on Wednesday.
Analysts said the new round of home-purchasing restrictions targeting second- and third-tier cities might help in curbing rising property prices in first-tier cities.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has established five guidelines to help local governments evaluate which cities should have restrictions applied.
The Shanghai Securities News report said cities that meet two of the five criteria may face restrictions and people are speculating that the policy may soon expand to second- and third-tier cities.
Currently, some 40 cities in China have had home-purchasing restrictions applied and industry experts said at least 30 cities might be affected by the new policy.
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics suggested that cities without purchasing restrictions have higher growth in property prices than cities with enforced curbing measures.
In June, property prices rose by 3.85 percent year-on-year on average in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, while prices increased by 4.66 percent in 31 cities without the enforcement.
"Currently, as a result of the restrictions in large cities, property investors with sufficient capital are rushing into second- and third-tier cities and pushing up the property trading prices," said Yin Xufei, a real estate industry analyst with China Investment Consulting Research Center.
Industry experts pointed out that the price increase in smaller cities has become the main cause of rising property prices in large cities, since developers use the revenue generated from smaller cities to support projects in large cities such as Shanghai.
"Some property developers may experience funding shortages if restrictions are applied in second- and third-tier cities, which might help the government to stabilize housing prices," said Lu Qilin, research director at Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co.
However, analysts also said the restriction might face local opposition because it will reduce local government revenues from land sales.
Meanwhile, analysts are concerned that the restrictions may result in a big rebound in property prices if the policies are loosened later.
"Restrictions on residential property purchasing can have some short-term effect. However, it cannot solve the problem completely," Yin said. "The government needs to invest more in affordable housing projects to meet demand."
(Source: China Daily)
Related:
Property prices fall in more Chinese cities in July
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- More cities reported lower or unchanged property prices in July amid renewed government efforts to cool the market, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In July, 31 cities out of the statistical pool of 70 major cities saw new home prices decline or remain unchanged from a month earlier, compared with 26 cities in June, the NBS said in a report on its website. Full story
China's property developers under pressure as inventories pile up
BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's property developers saw their inventories surge in the first half of this year as government measures to cool the market have started to bite, latest statistics show.
Total inventories of 20 listed real estate developers that had released their semi-annual reports as of Wednesday soared 46.3 percent year-on-year to 317.76 billion yuan (about 49.65 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2011, according to Wind Information, a Shanghai-based financial data provider. Full story
People's Daily says government-related factors cause 60% of undeveloped property land
BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, said Thursday that 60 percent of the land for property development has been left unused due to government-related causes.
About 11,944 hectares of land for property use were left undeveloped by the end of 2010, according to the report that cited statistics from the Ministry of Land Resources. Full story
Analysis>> Crossroads for property prices
BEIJING, August 4 (Xinhuanet) – Tightening monetary policies and affordable housing projects are pushing developers to rethink their strategy
In a move to reassess the ability of domestic commercial banks to cope with the growing housing lending risks, the China Banking Regulatory Commission conducted a stress test on these lenders in the second quarter.Full story
