Opinion: How to Break the Deadlock on China’s Real Estate Market

Among China’s first-tier cities, Guangzhou is once again the first to ease restrictions on buying a home.

On Wednesday, the city’s government announced that restrictions on the number of homes that a household could buy no longer applied to five of the city’s 11 districts, as well as some parts of the district where the main Guangzhou airport is located. Restrictions were also relaxed for the rest of the city, where households that don’t have local residency would be allowed buy a home after they’ve paid personal income tax or social insurance contributions for two consecutive years — down from five.