China may increase second home downpayment -paper

BEIJING: China may increase the downpayment for people buying their second homes to 50 percent from the current 40 percent to cool the red-hot housing market, a local newspaper reported on Monday Dec 21, 2009, citing unidentified sources.

Beijing Business Today, a tabloid, said the higher downpayment would be part of the government's campaign to discourage speculation in the housing market.

The government has over the past two weeks announced a series of measures to deter speculation, including stiffer rules on land purchases and a less generous tax exemption for home sellers.

China's main property price index in November rose 5.7 percent from a year earlier, taking prices beyond their pre-financial crisis levels and fuelling worries about housing market bubbles. - Reuters