Haikou, Sanya to introduce property cooling measures

The cities of Haikou and Sanya will introduce measures to cool property price growth following orders from the Hainan provincial government, state media reported. The cities have been ordered to launch measures before the end of March to increase housing supply and fight property speculation. No specific measures were specified. A research agency put Sanya’s average property prices as the fifth-highest nationwide, with an average price of US$2,784 per square meter. The State Council has directed provincial governments to rein in property price growth, but to date only 15 provinces have complied with a mid-February target, in part due to their economic reliance on the property sector. Hainan officials say that nearly 60% of the provincial government’s revenues come from real estate.