China's new leadership unlikely to roll out new property curbs, analysts say

China's new leadership is unlikely to introduce new curbs on the property market but will focus on enforcing existing measures, analysts say.

They forecast stable growth in property prices after the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference next month.

The property market has been among the key topics at the annual meetings since 2010, after mainland property prices started to rise rapidly in 2009, surging by more than 20 per cent that year.

"I don't expect the new leadership to mention new property measures at the meetings," said Winnie Cheng Yun, research director at realtor Centaline Group. "Actually, some existing measures have been repeated again and again over the past few years." The existing measures, reiterated in a State Council announcement on February 20, include expansion of a property tax trial, restricting purchases of second homes and increasing the supply of land and housing.

Premier Wen Jiabao had pledged to rein in the property market at the past three NPC meetings. "The [housing] price should be considered according to people's incomes, and what I want to say is that the current price is far beyond that level," Wen said at his post-NPC announcement last year.

At the same event in 2011, Wen said Beijing would control liquidity to "eliminate the monetary basis for rises in housing and food prices". And in his government work report in 2010 he vowed to "resolutely curb soaring housing prices".