New Policy to Cool Beijing Housing Market

(Beijing) -- The newly implemented housing purchase restrictions in Beijing are expected to rein in the city's housing transactions in 2011 by 50 percent, according to property market research agency, Centaline Property.

The Beijing municipal government on February 16 announced a set of 15 measures to adjust the now white-hot property market, including purchasing restrictions for migrant residents and higher down payments for second-home buying. The new measures have already begun to stir controversy, with some observers saying the purchasing restrictions for migrant residents violates property rights and constricts market activity. Others said the measures lack procedural transparency, from the drafting of the document to the implementation.