The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development have jointly issued a document on inspecting the selling prices of real estate and will launch housing price inspections in 15 key cities including Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hefei and Jinan.

Housing prices are a significant index to reflect the changes in the real estate market. The housing price inspections aim to guarantee that housing prices reflect the real market situation, which is of great significance to the decision-making for housing market policies.

In the past housing price inspections were always launched by local authorities. This is the first time cross-provincial housing price inspections have been launched. They aim to avoid unnecessary influence or interference during the inspections. It is considered a major effort by the central government to guarantee a stable and healthy real estate market across the country.

The key aspects of the housing price inspections this time include whether commercial housing is sold at the marked price and whether the housing price information a seller provides is as required, also whether the real estate sellers promote properties with fake prices to deceive consumers, and whether there are any violations that involve manipulating the market prices of houses.

Violators will be seriously dealt with, such as being exposed to the public, banned from market access and even punished according to the law, the document said.