BEIJING, one of China’s hottest residential real estate markets, will step up property controls to keep home prices stable next year, Xinhua reported Sunday.

    Stoked by speculators, home prices in the capital are already too high, and rising social tensions pose enormous challenges to Beijing’s stability, Xinhua said.

    Average new-home prices in Beijing rose 26.4 percent in November from a year earlier, slowing for the second month following cooling measures taken by the government. On Sept. 30, Beijing announced a requirement for higher down payments on property purchases.(SD-Agencies)