Beijing wants to ensure that prices of ordinary housing remains “stable” this year, relative to the levels seen in 2010, with some declines possible, according to a city official.
The central government has been working hard to curb the increasing cost of new homes, which has turned out to be a major source of price pressures on ordinary residents. The government has urged local administrations to set 2011 targets for controlling property price increases by the end of the first quarter.
An unidentified Beijing housing official noted that the city, which has witnessed some of the country’s highest growth in real estate prices, aims to ensure that “the price of newly built ordinary housing would be relatively stable with some fall.”
This year, Beijing will provide more than 200,000 units of state-backed “affordable” housing, while developing another 100,000 units.
The local media had previously reported that most of the local governments, especially in China’s second- and third-tier cities, have already set their 2011 real estate inflation targets at 10 percent.
Shanghai, China’s financial centre, aims to restrict property price increases of newly built homes to below the city’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate.
China’s property price increases in February were at their slowest in over a year, after a series of government policies intended to cool down the real estate market.