Home prices to decline, purchase limits to end

Report says oversupply in first-and second-tier cities will suppress sales

Home prices are set to decline further next year and cities that still restrict multiple-home purchasing are expected to scrap the policy, a report by an institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said on Friday.

Property downturn since the beginning of the year had prompted most of the cities in which there were restrictions on home purchases to ease them. There are only five cities where the curbs are still in place - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Sanya.