The Chinese city of Langfang near Beijing dropped all constraints on home buying on Tuesday in an effort to boost demand amid the country’s property crisis, the Beijing Daily reported.
City officials have also asked banks to lower the base the down-payments required for housing provident funds, widening access to property buying.
Fragile sentiment in the sector due to debt woes at many of the nation’s property developers has been further corroded by nationwide threats by home buyers to stop paying mortgages for unfinished projects.
China’s home sales volume slumped in July, while the price of new homes also slid from a month earlier, according to a private survey.
This year, hundreds of Chinese cities, mostly small cities, have taken steps to boost demand, offering subsidies, relaxing curbs and cutting down-payment requirements. Curbs on purchases that were introduced by Langfang in 2017 included restrictions on non-residents buying homes.
Langfang in Hebei province, about 60 kilometres southeast of Beijing, has also eased restrictions on selling homes in areas near its borders with Beijing and Xiongan New Area, the state-backed daily said.
Langfang’s property market has seen home prices fall for seven straight months through to July.
- Reuters, with additional editing from Alfie Habershon
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