More Chinese cities restrict house purchases

A potential homebuyer checks out a property project in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Dec 17, 2016. [Asianewsphoto by Long Wei]

HANGZHOU - Authorities in the eastern cities of Hangzhou, Xiamen and Fuzhou are set to roll out more measures to restrict housing purchases and cool the property market.

Hangzhou announced that starting Wednesday, single adults, including those who are divorced, who have a local "hukou" (permanent residence permits) and own at least one house, will not be permitted to buy new apartments in the city's urban area.

The property that business enterprises have purchased will not be tradable within the first three years. In addition, people who hold a hukou registered in the restriction areas must show evidence of living there for more than two years to buy property.

The minimum down payment for second homes will be raised to 60 percent. Those who have no home in Hangzhou but have a housing-loan record will be classed as second home buyers.

Purchase restrictions have also been introduced in Xiamen and Fuzhou.

Xiamen announced that starting Wednesday, those without a local haikou, who cannot provide evidence of paying 36 months worth of income tax and social security payments in the last four years, will not be able to buy property that has a floor size of less than 180 square meters.

Fuzhou also raised the minimum down payment to 50 percent for second homes.

From March, dozens of second-tier cities and cities neighboring Beijing and Shanghai have moved to limit housing purchases to cool property markets.

In the first two months of 2017, investment in China's real estate market rose 8.9 percent year on year to more than 985 billion yuan ($143 billion), and housing sales jumped 26 percent from the same period of 2016 to over 1 trillion yuan.