Another city lifts property restrictions

Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province, announced on Saturday its decision to loosen housing purchase limit, leaving only five others - Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Sanya - still keeping the restrictions.

In a notice released by the municipal government of Zhuhai on its website, residents no longer need to file proof of their social security or tax payment when buying apartments in newly-developed districts such as Hengqin, or ones that are above 144 square meters.

Non-local residents can buy up to one commercial housing in downtown districts, but there's no such restriction for home purchase in the new towns, says the notice.

The initiative is in accordance with "supporting the middle-end property market and making room for high-end demands," Zhuhai Daily reported.

About 40 Chinese cities have either lifted or loosened the housing purchase limit this year to rev up local real estate markets. The cooling measure was first introduced in 2011.

China's four big State-owned banks are planning to reduce down payment requirement from second-time home buyers if they have paid back the mortgage loan, the Shanghai Securities News reported quoting internal sources on Sept 23.

The minimum down payment for first-time homebuyers is about 30 percent of the housing's market value, while 60 percent for mortgagers who wish to purchase a second home, according to Xinhua.

New-home prices fell month-on-month in August this year in 68 of the 70 major cities monitored by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the weakest housing data in the past three-and-a-half years since the government changed the way it compiled the figures.

In the first eight months of this year, national home sales dropped 10 percent by floor space over a year earlier and slumped 10.9 percent by value, the NBS said earlier.