A northeast Chinese city has banned new homes from going back on the market for more than three-and-a-half years.

Tangshan, in Hebei province, implemented a citywide 42-month selling restriction starting Saturday. It applies to newly built housing units purchased after Jan. 4 and is the latest local government effort to rein in property speculation, after Beijing gave localities more power to make their own real estate policies.

The Tangshan municipal government has scrambled to keep a lid on prices after the city’s housing market became one of China’s fastest growing in the second half of 2019. Prices went up 1.9% in November, the highest rise among 70 cities monitored by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The city’s move could help curb speculation, make purchase behavior more rational and regulate the property market, said Yan Yuejin, a researcher with Shanghai-based property research institute E-house China R&D Institute.

According to state-run Economic Daily, China's property sector raked in 5.98 trillion yuan ($858 billion) in 2018, accounting for 6.65% of the country’s total GDP.

Read the full story on Caixin Global later today.

Contact reporter Yutong Lu (yutonglu@caixin.com)