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Reality dose to realty sector

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-17 07:52

Since the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference have suggested a set of regulatory policies for the real estate sector, the housing market should be better regulated now, says an article in Economic Information Daily. Excerpts:

Consistent and stable policies may be crucial to curbing rising housing prices. But they have to be implemented strictly to meet the public's expectation.

Building more subsidized houses, especially for the low-income groups, can solve a good part of the housing problem, for it will ease the demand from this section of society.

The implementation of pilot projects for progressive property taxation should be expedited, too, because it would raise housing costs and restrict speculative investment.

Homebuyers can be made to buy property according to their needs, and not bigger ones whose prices increase rapidly, by imposing differential taxation. And if any member of a family, which already has a property, wants to buy a second house he/she should be charged a higher mortgage rate.

The 30 percent mortgage rate exemption for people buying their first house, however, should continue as a welfare policy.

Governments need to intervene in the real estate sector because housing prices have become unaffordable for the majority of people. And the favorable policy would ensure that people in genuine need of a house, and not speculators, would be able to buy one.

(China Daily 03/17/2010 page9)