Beijing eases pressure on home buyers

China announced a wave of policy changes on Wednesday designed to unwind proprety tightening measures originally introduced to control rapid price growth, Reuters reported. Coming at a time when the government is keen to bolster the positions of low income earners as economic growth slows, the measures target those buying their first homes. As of November 1, the property deed tax will fall to 1% from 1.5% for first-home buyers who purchase properties smaller than 90 square meters. Meanwhile, the down payment requirement for all first-home buyers will be cut to 20% from 30%, and banks can charge as little as 70% of benchmark lending rates for these mortgages. The 0.05% stamp tax and land value-added tax for home purchases have also been scrapped. The real estate market as a whole has been weakening since the start of the year. Urban property prices rose 3.5% year-on-year in September, down from 5.3% in August.