China waves off speculation it will send in cavalry for shaky property market
- At least six provinces have recently pledged ‘stability’ for their local property markets
- Official Chinese think tank says Beijing wants some major curbs kept in place to stem property speculation
China’s central and local officials have a message for the all-important property market: don’t expect the cavalry.
During these rocky times for the sector, “stability” is en vogue.
On January 21, President Xi Jinping told provincial heads to enact a “long-term mechanism” to ensure the healthy development of the property market. Since mid-January, provincial leaders have moved in line to pledge “stability” in their respective local markets this year.
That is meant to put off expectations that cities will ease policy curbs put in place to cool down soaring home prices, some analysts say. Property curbs include such things as caps on home prices and restrictions on re-selling.
Since mid-January, at least six provinces have repeated the line “keep housing price stable, land price stable and market outlook stable” in their annual provincial legislature gatherings, a prelude to the national meeting in March. The provinces include Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Henan and Hubei, and the central administrative municipality of Beijing. No cities have eased curbs since Beijing became the fourth city to do so on January 9.