因城施策 (yincheng shice): Real estate policies appropriate to local situation

In the Government Work Report, delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on March 5 to the top legislature, it was proposed that cities introduce policies appropriate to the situations in their local property markets.

In general, the real estate market nationwide faces considerable pressure due to the high inventory of unsold properties, but the actual situations vary in different locations.

Since the beginning of 2016, for instance, housing prices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen have soared sharply, but the real estate markets in other cities, especially third- and fourth-tier cities and those at the county-level, are still sluggish.

It's a wise choice to implement real estate policies according to the actual situation in different areas. In the places where property prices are rising rapidly, the government should increase the supply of land so that supply meets the demand. But the preferential tax policies that encourage house purchases should not be implemented in the first-tier cities.

On Friday, the Shanghai government announced that it will strengthen its real estate regulations and crack down on housing speculation to prevent the housing market from overheating.

The policies include tightening the criteria for purchases and housing transactions, and increasing the down payment requirements.