China Housing Minister Urges Fresh Real Estate Aid Efforts

(Bloomberg) — China’s top housing official urged financial regulators and lenders to strengthen efforts to revive the country’s ailing property sector.

In a recent meeting with property developers and builders, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong called for homebuyers who had paid off previous mortgages to be considered as first-time purchasers, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday. Up to now, many buyers in big cities who have a mortgage history but don’t currently own a property are subject to stricter down-payment rules.