CHINA’S major southern city of Guangzhou fully relaxed home purchase limits for some people Saturday and said it would increase affordable housing supply, in a move to support the local property market.

Properties with a floor area of more than 120 square meters (1,292 square feet) are excluded from housing purchase restrictions, according to a notice from the southern city government.

The move means that people can buy as many apartments of that size as they want, whether they already own one or not, said Wang Xiaoqiang, analyst at Zhuge Real Estate Data Research Center.

“Guangzhou is the first tier-one city to significantly relax its purchase restriction policy .... which will help accelerate a reduction of housing inventory and promote activity of the property market,” said Wang.

Guangzhou’s housing de- stocking cycle is 18.5 months, higher than Shanghai’s 10 months, according to a report in December from China Real Estate Information Corp.

New home prices also fell year on year for a 12th consecutive month in December in Guangzhou, according to official data.

The southern China city plans to provide 10,000 units of affordable housing and 100,000 low-cost rental housing, and to give rental subsidies to 18,000 households, according to the notice. (SD-Agencies)