Top official urges continued strict real estate policies

A top Chinese official on Monday called for the government to continue city-based regulations in the housing sector to ensure a stable and sound market.

"We will continue to take differentiated approaches based on different cities to steadily reduce housing inventories and ensure stable and healthy development in the real estate market," Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said at a policy meeting in Beijing on Monday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Zhang's comment might indicate that despite recent cooling signs, the government will continue to tighten regulations for the housing market, including higher down payment requirements, increased mortgage rates and other restrictions, to curb rising prices in major cities, according to media reports on Monday.

Home prices in major cities have been cooling off, according to official data. In May, of 70 major cities, 35 reported month-on-month price declines or a slower price gain, up from 31 in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on June 19.

The bureau said that 15 first-and second-tier cities, where home prices had been skyrocketing, had slower year-on-year prices rises in May.