Chinese city Guangzhou completely eased off its restrictions on purchases of large homes, in fresh moves aimed at supporting the country’s crisis-hit property sector.
The move means that people can buy as many apartments with a floor area of more than 120 square metres (1,292 square feet) as they want, whether they already own one or not.
“Guangzhou is the first tier-one city to significantly relax its purchase restriction policy,” Wang Xiaoqiang, analyst at Zhuge Real Estate Data Research Centre, said.
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Its move “will help accelerate a reduction of housing inventory and promote activity of the property market,” he added.
Additionally, the major southern city also plans to provide 10,000 units of affordable housing and 100,000 low-cost rental housing, a Guangzhou government notice said.
The city will also give rental subsidies to 18,000 households, according to the notice.
The move comes as China battles a deep housing crisis, with many debt-laden developers unable to complete projects.
The completion delays have dampened the confidence of would-be buyers and severely weakened a sector that was once the economy’s major growth driver.
A large supply of homes has added to pressure on the market in Guangzhou.
Guangzhou’s housing de-stocking cycle is 18.5 months, higher than Shanghai’s 10 months, according to a report in December from China Real Estate Information Corp.
New home prices also fell year-on-year for a 12th consecutive month in December, official data showed.
Chinese policymakers have rolled out support measures in recent months to prop up the real-estate sector, such as easier access to cash for developers, cuts in home mortgage rates and relaxed rules on buying homes.
However, the market has shown little sign of stabilising, with sales staying weak and yet more developer defaults.
The housing regulator said on Friday that cities are given full autonomy in real estate regulation and control, and they can adjust their property policies based on local conditions.
- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
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