Crackdown on housing speculation continues as more cities launch curbs

Housing authorities in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan Province, as well as those in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province and Jiaxing, East China's Zhejing Province announced new regulations over the weekend aiming to cool their property markets, which have continued to overheat.

To date, 26 cities across the country have unveiled home sale curbs to crack down on property speculation and further regulate the real estate sector.

The government's ongoing launch of home purchasing and sales restrictions has shattered public expectations that home prices will continue to rise, an expert said.

According to a statement posted Saturday on the website of the Changsha Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, commercial housing may not be sold to residents who hold a Changsha household registration (hukou) and already own two or more apartments in districts with home purchase restrictions.

The Wuxi housing authority has banned secondhand apartment sales to residents who do not have a local hukou and who already own one or more homes.

Besides, the Jiaxing housing authority has banned residents without a local hukou from selling homes that have been owned for less than two years.

Sales restrictions figure most prominently in this round of housing curbs, said Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute.

"Sale restrictions differ from limits on home purchases as the latter will directly affect trading volume. Restrictions on sales would add to housing costs as well as prevent rapid capital inflows and outflows, which will help crack down on speculative buying and prevent people from converting assets into cash," Yan told the Global Times on Sunday.

Although sales restrictions pose some risks, the new policies will slow down local buyers' rapid pace of purchasing housing, according to the expert.

The Changsha housing department also put into effect home purchase restrictions on residents without a local hukou who have one or more apartments in certain districts in the city, according to the statement seen by the Global Times.