Property tycoon doubts real estate measures

Wang Yijiang, a professor with Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, agreed with Ren that policies had been inconsistent "over the past 10 years".

He added: "Sometimes they have seemed to help push up property prices, while at other times they have been targeted at curbing prices. I'm confused."

The latest policies, which include a 20 percent tax on profits from homeowners' housing sales, have created a secondhand property purchasing spree as people rush to buy before measures are implemented.

Wang said that instead of adding to transaction costs, the government should impose a property tax for high-end real estate, which could add to the cost of owning multiple houses, thus reducing the incentive for investors.

Qin Hong, a researcher with a think tank under the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development, said the inconsistency of China's property measures could be attributed to the country's macroeconomic policy, which sometimes prioritizes cooling off the overheated economy while focusing on bolstering decelerated economic growth.

Ren also said that the property market had been downgraded as a pawn of the country's economic policy, and continual government interventions had messed it up.

A healthy property market would require the government to use market-oriented mechanisms rather than administrative measures such as limiting the number of house people could buy, Ren said.

Tax collected from property transactions last year totaled 1.01 trillion yuan ($162.7 billion), and land transfer fees amounted to 2.69 trillion yuan.