Shanghai tightens rules to further cool property market

[BEIJING] Shanghai has expanded the scope of purchase restrictions and curbed loans facilitating transactions, in a renewed effort to rein in the city's recent buying frenzy.

The latest curbs came on top of rules announced by the Chinese financial hub last week after sales by volume hit a nearly four-year high.

Homes for court auctions are now included in purchase restriction policies, where bidders participating in such actions should ensure that they are qualified to buy homes in the city, the Shanghai court said in a notice on the city's public auction platform on Monday.

Sales of such homes, which account for less than 1 per cent of overall home property transactions in Shanghai, are always bought by individuals seeking to go around ownership limits, said Lu Wenxi, analyst with property agency Centaline.

Separately, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has stopped granting loans used in the payment of taxes and fees in residential property transactions, state media Securities Times reported on Monday.

The suspension was aimed at slowing down the pace of housing transactions and controlling market sentiment, said Centaline's Lu.

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REUTERS