An eastern China city made a rare move to scrap a two-year old curb on home sales designed to combat market speculation. But the easing lasted just one day, reported Caixin.
News circulated late Tuesday that Zhangjiagang, a manufacturing hub in Jiangsu province, lifted a policy in place since August 2018 to ban the resale of residential properties within two years of purchase. The news captured wide attention as it represented one of the boldest moves by a local government to loosen years of stringent control over the housing market.
A staff member at Zhangjiagang’s property transaction service center confirmed the news with Caixin in a phone call Wednesday morning. The staff said the resale restriction had been removed but it was still pending an official document.
However, hours later, the same center told Caixin that the policy change was suspended and had to “wait for authorities’ notice.” The short-lived easing in Zhangjiagang reflects a conundrum facing local authorities in managing the housing market amid a broader slowing of economic growth. Most local authorities rolled out restrictive measures to curb home transactions since 2016 in response to the central government’s call to control the white-hot housing market and freewheeling home prices.
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