Property prices still rising
By Li Fei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-15 08:56 Also effective from June 1, anyone who resells their property within five
years of purchase is required to pay a 5.5 per cent transaction tax on the sale
value of the property.
Continuously rising real estate prices have led
many economists to call for decisive government action to adjust the property
market, which they said was overheated.
The central government has
introduced a series of measures since April to try to cool the market
down.
The central bank raised the one-year benchmark lending rate by 27
base points to 5.85 per cent, a move seen by many as aimed at curbing the robust
lending to the housing sector.
In an executive meeting chaired by Premier
Wen Jiabao on May 17, the cabinet vowed to use "a mix of tax, credit and land
policies" to maintain the healthy development of the property market, which was
identified as a pillar industry in the national economy.
And on May 29,
the central government announced a series of measures, described by experts and
industry watchers as the "most detailed and specific policy" ever made by the
government.
"It will be quite hard to predict what impact all these
policies will have on housing price trends in the coming months," said Wang
Chen, a senior manager in Beijing with the global real estate consulting
services provider DTZ.
"It depends on how effectively these policies are
enforced by local governments," he added.
The price of a second-hand
property increased on average by 6.7 per cent year-on-year in May, 0.9
percentage points higher than the previous month.
The price of
non-residential properties in the 70 cities such as office buildings and
warehouses rose 4.4 per cent year-on-year in May, according to the
statistics.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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