DONGGUAN, a city between Guangzhou and Shenzhen in South China’s Guangdong Province, on Saturday adopted new rules in a bid to cool the sizzling property market and curb speculation, according to a report by China News Agency.

The new rules involve land supply, home purchases, transfer of commercial residential houses, housing provident fund for home loans, and housing price supervision.

Under the new policy, a citizen without Dongguan hukou must pay social insurance premiums for at least a year in order to purchase a home in the city, and pay social insurance premiums for at least two consecutive years for a second house.

Meanwhile, the time limit for a residential house in Dongguan to be sold has also been extended from two years to three years upon the issuance of the property certificate.

For homebuyers who have paid their housing provident fund in cities outside of Dongguan, at least one member of a married couple should hold Dongguan hukou when applying for home loans, according to the new rule.

The city will suspend the issuance of pre-sale permits for those properties whose prices are obviously higher than the average level of surrounding areas for unaccountable reasons.

Dongguan housing authorities will also intensify a crackdown on irregularities for secondhand home transactions.

(Zhang Yu)