MORE than 20 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Dongguan, Zhuhai and Fuzhou, announced new restrictions on property purchases and mortgage down payment during the past nine days.

    The form and strength of the new restrictions varied from city to city, but included higher mortgage down payments for second- and third-time homebuyers, in a bid to stem the flow of cash into the red-hot property market.

    Shanghai’s government said in a statement that it would increase land supply for commercial housing construction and step up supervision over the purchase of pre-owned homes that had never been used.

    Guangzhou has limited local residents to purchasing a maximum of two properties, according to a statement posted late Tuesday on the Guangzhou government’s website.

    Non-local residents will be allowed to buy one property, if they can prove they have paid appropriate levels of tax or social security.

    Separately, local media reported Tuesday that Suzhou in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province had unveiled fresh measures steps, including higher down payment requirements, to cool the housing market.

    Nanchang, the capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province, put restrictions on the number of new homes that people can purchase in some districts, and increased the required down payment for first-time buyers to 30 percent from 20 percent, Xinhua said. Authorities in Nanjing and Wuxi also adjusted down payment requirements.

    (SD-Agencies)