Beijing not to ease home purchase restrictions: official

Beijing's home purchase restrictions will not be eased despite a sluggish property market, a government official confirmed on Thursday.

A source with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development told Xinhua that home buyers in the capital city will have to stick with the current purchasing policy, which is in line with Beijing's plan for sustainable development.

Rumors have swirled recently that the Beijing government had accepted a draft plan by a local property think tank to gradually abolish the 20-percent tax on profits for each second home sold, lower the contract tax and lessen home-purchasing restrictions for non-Beijingers.

"Though the restrictions will not be eased, the government has just extended a preferable tax policy to the public, which will effectively relieve people's house-buying burden," said the source.

Currently, only five out of 46 Chinese cities still impose home purchase restrictions, namely Sanya on Hainan Island and the country's four first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The Chinese property market suffered a notable downturn in 2014, with falling prices and sluggish sales. Official data showed that out of 70 major Chinese cities, new homes in 68 saw month-on-month price declines in August, compared with 64 in July.