Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei act on realty speculation

A boy plays near a property project in Langfang, Hebei province. WANG JIJIA / FOR CHINA DAILY

The Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei governments are teaming up to intervene and stop speculation in the real estate market, senior officials said.

Tongzhou district, Beijing's subsidiary administration center, is forming a realty regulation enforcement alliance with Tianjin's Wuqing district and Langfang in Hebei province－the two latter areas within easy reach of the capital－to target market speculators and errant property agencies.

Wu Diandong, deputy head of Tongzhou Commission of Housing and Urban-rural Development, said at a working conference in Beijing that the new alliance of the three local governments will improve market supervision and hit speculation in cross-border housing sales.

Tongzhou district said it had closed 75 rule-violating real estate companies since last September and plans to shut down another 150 in the current year. Langfang government has also been tightening house market regulations since April. Xiongan New Area of Hebei, the new economic zone to be developed, is implementing similar measures.

Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with Centaline Property, told 21st Century Business Herald that the governments would harden their policies in Beijing's neighboring areas, where speculators have been flocking to invest.

"The alliance between Tongzhou, Wuqing and Langfang will help to coordinate regulations and restrict the capital from flowing in and out of the three markets," he said.

"In the past year, speculators have been flocking to neighboring areas like Langfang due to the tightening rules in Tongzhou, leading to skyrocketing prices in both those areas and in Tongzhou."

Data from Centaline Property show that the average house price in Tongzhou has doubled in past two years from 21,125 yuan ($3,067) per square meter to 50,000 yuan in 2017.