(ECNS) -- The eastern Chinese city of Xiamen in Fujian Province has released a housing purchase control policy more stringent than expected to crack down on property speculation, reported caixin.com.
The policy that takes effect on Sept. 5 sets clear limits on the number of homes people can buy as well as a purchaser qualifications.
Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Land Resources and Real Estate Management originally announced it would impose controls on July 15, and then deleted the news from its official website.
Measures in the previous version focused on higher down payments and controls on Public Housing Fund mortgages, which carry lower rates than commercial mortgages in China.
In comparison, the newly released policy places more requirements on the number of homes people can buy rather than loan policies supervised by the central bank.
Under the new regulation, a family with a Xiamen residence permit that already owns two homes can't buy a third less than 144 square meters in size. A family without a residency permit that owns one home is also banned from another purchase.
Home prices in Xiamen increased by 5.5 percent in May, ranking first among the 70 big and medium-sized cities monitored by the National Bureau of Statistics. Prices here increased another 30 percent in July.
Yan Yuejin, director of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Center, said the new policy is more stringent and specific than the previous one, essentially stopping property speculation in the city.
But he added that there's a danger that some couples would choose to divorce in order to qualify for more home purchases as an investment and then later remarry.
The fake divorce scheme has already occurred in Shanghai, which also imposes strict housing purchase controls.
