Purge realty speculation

The ongoing fall in housing prices and property shares is largely a knee-jerk reaction to recent government moves, which have been branded as the most draconian measures for the property market in history.

Policymakers can take some comfort from the immediate effect of their latest efforts to cool the red-hot property market. Yet, to successfully prick the housing bubble, they still have to fight a long war against runaway speculation on both sides of the real estate market.

By increasing down payment requirements and second-home mortgage rates, as well as curbing loans for third-home purchases, the State Council dealt a heavy blow to speculative buying last week.