Economy
Homebuyers bide their time as gov't to cool housing market
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-06 17:30
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A better solution
Zhang Hanya, a senior researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission, said the government has to do more than just crack down on speculative buying.
"The new measures may stop home prices surging for a while, but the government cannot simply set stricter requirements to stop people buying new homes," he said.
Zhang thinks the government should provide more affordable housing and give buyers a choice other than expensive, luxurious places.
Building a "multi-level housing supply system" with low-rent housing, affordable homes, and commercial residential housing, is the key to solving the property market problem, Zhang said.
The Chinese government plans to spend 63.2 billion yuan ($9.26 billion) on low-income housing this year, an increase of 8.1 billion yuan over 2009, according to a government work report delivered at the annual parliamentary session in March.
In Qingdao - an eastern China coastal city listed as one of the six Chinese cities with property bubbles - the government promised to provide 16,000 affordable homes over the next two years.
Meanwhile, the government of Nanjing, capital city of eastern Jiangsu Province, has strengthened regulations concerning affordable housing, even taking back cheap homes bought by families not meeting the conditions the government set.
"It is good to know the government is making efforts to provide us with more choices. I really don't want to choose between expensive apartments and even more expensive ones anymore. It's torture," said Tang Linyun.
