BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) – China’s Xian, capital city of northwestern Shaanxi province, rolled out measures on Wednesday to boost the supply of residential land and restrict housing transactions to try to contain price rises and the speculative buying of homes.
A huge influx of people and spillover demand has hit some of China’s tier-2 cities since four tier-1 metropolis’s instituted stringent regulations early in the year to rein in home prices.
In late March, China’s housing ministry visited Xian and the southwestern city of Chengdu to inspect the property market and offer guidance on stabilising it. Prices of homes in Xian rose 7.4% in February from a year earlier, quickening from 6.5% in January, official data shows.
Newcomers will not be eligible to buy a home until a year after getting a residential permit, Xian housing authority said in a statement on its website.
Home owners will not be allowed to sell their properties within five years of purchase, it said.
The city will also boost land supply for residential housing by over 20% annually, based on factors including city development, population inflow and housing inventory, it added.
Reporting by Lusha Zhang and Tony Munroe; editing by Philippa Fletcher
