Home » Business » Real Estate
Shanghai property curbs unveiled
By Cherry Cao |
March 31, 2013, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI unveiled yesterday its long-expected local guidelines to further strengthen its property curbs, one day before a deadline set earlier by the central government.
A 20-percent capital gains tax on property sellers, as required by the central government, will be strictly levied in the city if the original value of the house can be verified, the local government said in a statement posted yesterday evening on its website.
Shanghai will also continue to implement home-purchase restrictions vigorously, while enforcing differentiated credit policies to rein in speculation in the housing market.
Banks are not allowed to extend loans to buyers of third and beyond homes and should "adjust" their requirement for down payment ratio as well as interest rates for second-home buyers at an "appropriate" time, the statement said.
The city will also keep housing prices "stable," the statement said - the city's housing price control target for this year.
Banking and financial institutions, while extending loans, should give priority to commercial housing projects which have more than 70 percent of their units being small and medium-sized apartments.
Meanwhile, the city's annual land supply plan for home building should be disclosed by the end of the first quarter, while this year's commercial housing land supply should not be less than the actual annual supply average in the past five years.
"Such guidelines are basically within my expectations," said Song Huiyong, a research director at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Ltd, operator of the city's largest estate chain in terms of transaction value.
"It seems to me that the local government is more inclined to send a message that it wants a rather stable housing market rather than pressing further harder on the brakes."
The State Council, or China's cabinet, rolled out an array of measures on March 1 in its latest bid to tighten control over the property market amid expectations of rising housing prices.
Among these, a proposed 20 percent tax on capital gains from home transactions - compared to the previous transaction tax of 1 to 2 percent of the final sale price - surprised the market most and triggered a wave of panic among buyers and sellers.
In Shanghai, for example, transactions of existing houses more than doubled at most realty chains over the past few weeks, though some economists and industry analysts expressed their concerns that it could be difficult to really implement such a tax at the moment as it could be hard to calculate capital gain or track the original value of some houses.
Other cities also introduced local guidelines right ahead of the March 31 national deadline.
In Beijing, the city government also said yesterday in a circular that single status local residents who do not own an apartment are entitled to buy only one house, while a 20 percent capital gains tax will be strictly imposed from today if the house's original value can be verified. Otherwise, a 1 percent transaction tax on the final sale price will be levied.
Meanwhile, the city will raise down payments for second-home buyers.
Lao Ai, a columnist for the finance channel on Sina.com, wrote in a commentary yesterday that more cities are expected to take a similarly "gentle" approach following the suit of Beijing and Shanghai, which have both introduced very "mild" guidelines as earlier expected.
A 20-percent capital gains tax on property sellers, as required by the central government, will be strictly levied in the city if the original value of the house can be verified, the local government said in a statement posted yesterday evening on its website.
Shanghai will also continue to implement home-purchase restrictions vigorously, while enforcing differentiated credit policies to rein in speculation in the housing market.
Banks are not allowed to extend loans to buyers of third and beyond homes and should "adjust" their requirement for down payment ratio as well as interest rates for second-home buyers at an "appropriate" time, the statement said.
The city will also keep housing prices "stable," the statement said - the city's housing price control target for this year.
Banking and financial institutions, while extending loans, should give priority to commercial housing projects which have more than 70 percent of their units being small and medium-sized apartments.
Meanwhile, the city's annual land supply plan for home building should be disclosed by the end of the first quarter, while this year's commercial housing land supply should not be less than the actual annual supply average in the past five years.
"Such guidelines are basically within my expectations," said Song Huiyong, a research director at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Ltd, operator of the city's largest estate chain in terms of transaction value.
"It seems to me that the local government is more inclined to send a message that it wants a rather stable housing market rather than pressing further harder on the brakes."
The State Council, or China's cabinet, rolled out an array of measures on March 1 in its latest bid to tighten control over the property market amid expectations of rising housing prices.
Among these, a proposed 20 percent tax on capital gains from home transactions - compared to the previous transaction tax of 1 to 2 percent of the final sale price - surprised the market most and triggered a wave of panic among buyers and sellers.
In Shanghai, for example, transactions of existing houses more than doubled at most realty chains over the past few weeks, though some economists and industry analysts expressed their concerns that it could be difficult to really implement such a tax at the moment as it could be hard to calculate capital gain or track the original value of some houses.
Other cities also introduced local guidelines right ahead of the March 31 national deadline.
In Beijing, the city government also said yesterday in a circular that single status local residents who do not own an apartment are entitled to buy only one house, while a 20 percent capital gains tax will be strictly imposed from today if the house's original value can be verified. Otherwise, a 1 percent transaction tax on the final sale price will be levied.
Meanwhile, the city will raise down payments for second-home buyers.
Lao Ai, a columnist for the finance channel on Sina.com, wrote in a commentary yesterday that more cities are expected to take a similarly "gentle" approach following the suit of Beijing and Shanghai, which have both introduced very "mild" guidelines as earlier expected.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
