Vanke sees sales slow as property tightening increases

China Vanke, the country’s largest property developer by market value, said Sunday that its sales revenue fell 20.2% year-on-year to US$748 million in May following government austerity measures, state media reported. The company told the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that it sold 470,000 square meters of floor space during the month, down 32.6% from the same period last year. The central government took further action to restrict second-home purchases on Friday, ordering banks to ask for higher down payments and mortgage rates if family members of the homebuyer already own property. In addition, if an individual has previously taken out a mortgage loan but does not own a property at present, banks should still treat the person as a second-home buyer. Experts warned that the new measures might be difficult to implement due to a lack of synchronicity between China’s housing registration and banking systems.