China’s housing markets unlikely to respond to cooling measures

The pace of house price inflation in China’s biggest cities is unlikely to cool significantly, even as the government intensifies tightening policies, according to the country’s leading developers, reported the South China Morning Post. During the weekend, Shanghai, Shenzhen,Wuhan and Nanjing tightened home purchase policies by varying degrees to rein in surging property prices. Shanghai issued the most aggressive policies in the city’s history, including increased down payments for second home purchases. Buyers of second homes, which are classified by regulators as luxury housing, must put up 70 per cent of the property’s value.