Without warning, 9 Chinese cities were slapped with property curbs
Without warning, 9 Chinese cities were slapped with property curbs
Unannounced cooling measures for panic-buying-prone market
Nine cities across China have suddenly introduced a range of cooling measures to their property markets over the weekend, even before home buyers could go on a preemptive buying spree.
The measures rolled out across the mainland starting late Friday night in Beijing, where officials now require a 35 percent downpayment of first-time home prospectors, 50 percent for those buying a house for the second time.
In Chengdu, buyers are now limited to just one purchase in some districts, while second-timers must fork out a downpayment of at least 40 percent of the property value. Penalties are also in store for developers that delay construction of projects.
Owners of two properties in Zhengzhou are now prohibited from purchasing a third property smaller than 180 square meters, while those with three properties in Jinan are not allowed to buy a fourth one. Meanwhile, non-residents of Tianjin are forbidden from buying a second home in the downtown area.
These curbs were announced in time for Silver October, a peak season for property investment in China. They also came a few days after several comments on CNN by Dalian Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin, warning of the “biggest bubble in history” and problems in the property market that would be “very difficult to resolve” in such boiling markets as Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Further mortgage restrictions could prove futile. “I don’t see a good solution to this problem,” Wang said. “The government has come up with all sorts of measures, limiting purchase or credit, but none have worked.”
The timing of the credit tightening seems more propitious in comparison, given some Chinese home buyers’ propensity for panic buying. Following rumours of a new raft of tightening measures in Shanghai and Hangzhou, home buyers made impetuous purchases that crashed websites and led to divorces.
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Source: Property Report