Second-hand house prices rising in China

SHANGHAI -- Second-hand house prices in six major Chinese cities continued to rise in February, a report released Tuesday said.

Last month, second-hand house prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Tianjin all saw month-on-month increases of over 1 percent, according to the report conducted by Centaline China, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based real estate agency Centaline Group.

As of February, second-hand house prices in the six major cities had been rising for 11 consecutive months, it said.

Beijing saw the largest month-on-month increase of 3.04 percent, as well as a year-on-year rise of 22.19 percent.

The report forecasts that newly issued stricter measures to cool China's property will hit heavily on the second-hand housing market. The rising price growth trend in the six major cities might slow this month.

Amid expectations of rising house prices, China's central government on Friday rolled out rules to further tighten controls on the property market.

The government said in an online notice that homeowners who sell their homes will be levied an income tax as high as 20 percent on the profit they make on a transaction.

Prior to the new rules, income tax was 1 percent to 2 percent of the sale price.

The report forecast that a new wave of rentals after the Spring Festival holiday (February 9-15) will push up rent prices. The rent of second-hand homes in the six cities is likely to continue to increase.