Guangzhou puts breaks on second-home sales

Starting from Nov 25, the minimum downpayment on the purchase of a second home in Guangzhou will be raised from 60 percent to 70 percent.

The Guangzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China issued the new requirement on Monday, in line with proposals presented in a document issued by the city government the same day.

The document listed six points aimed at controlling the housing market, including the suggestion that the bank should continue to raise the minimum downpayment for second homes.

Starting on Monday, a family that is not registered as permanently resident in Guangzhou can only buy a home there if one family member has paid personal income tax or social insurance in the city for three consecutive years in the past five years.

Previously, the rule was more relaxed, requiring such a family member to have paid personal income tax or social insurance for one year in the past two years.

The average sale price for a new home between April and October was 8 percent higher than for the same period in 2012.

In the first three months of 2013, the average price was 24.4 percent higher than in the same period of 2012, and only dropped after housing-market control measures were taken in March, according to the city government.

The city government’s goal for housing-market control goal this year is an average rise in sale prices of no more than the rise in the city’s average disposable income.