Five policies and measures to regulate real estate market
The State Council on March 1, 2013 issued five policies and measures to regulate and control the country's soaring real estate market (国五条 in Chinese), of which the most significant and also the most controversial point is that 20-percent individual income tax would be levied on capital gains by home sellers whose families own more than one apartment.
The five policies and measures are designed to:
1. Improve and maintain the stability of house prices. Municipalities under the auspices of central government, cities specifically designated in the State plan, and provincial capital cities excluding Lhasa must follow the principle of maintaining basic price stability. They must also compile and publish annual new commercial house price control targets and establish an effective system of accountability for assessing price stability.
2. Curb speculative investments seen in the housing market and implement strict commercial housing purchase limitation measures. For those municipalities under the auspices of the central government, cities specifically designated in the State plan and provincial capital cities that have already implemented housing purchase limitation measures, they must improve limitation measures in the fields of housing areas, housing types, and purchase qualification examinations according to the unified criteria. As for those cities where house prices continue to rise too rapidly, provincial-level governments should request that local-level officials implement purchase limitation measures, as well as enforce differential housing credit policies and expand the range of experimental areas for individual housing property tax reform. An individual income tax of 20 percent would be levied on capital gains made by those home sellers whose families own more than one apartment.
3. Increase the supply of ordinary commercial housing and land and accelerate the supply of land, construction and listing of small- and medium-sized ordinary commercial housing projects, rapidly ensuring an effective supply. In 2013, the total supply of land for housing is lower than the average supply over the past five years in principle.
4. Accelerate the planning and construction of affordable housing projects and ensure the projects to build 4.7 million sets of affordable housing and begin the construction of 6.3 million sets. Supporting facilities should be planned, constructed, and delivered for use within the same time frame as the affordable housing projects. The entry and exit system should also be improved in order to ensure equal distribution. By the end of 2013, prefecture-level cities and above must include into local housing guarantee coverage those migrant workers who meet the requirements.
5. Strengthen market supervision. Strengthen the management of commercial housing sales in advance, strictly implement a clear house price system, tighten enterprise credit management, and severely punish any illegal behavior among intermediaries. The urban individual housing information system should also be promoted and, in addition, market monitoring and publishing management should be strengthened.
The State Council also emphasized the importance of accelerating the implementation of an enduring and effective mechanism to guide the healthy development of the real estate market.
