China will be limiting or stopping the releasing of land for residential housing projects particularly in regions were supply is glut. This is one of the moves that the Communist Party has announced to clear a property overhang weighing on the economy.

According to the state-run China Central Television on Sunday, the new policy stipulates that commercial property developers in cities and other locations dealing with large levels of unsold inventory will not be issued vacant lots. On the other hand, cities that have successfully lessened their inventories will be rewarded with permits to request new land allocations, Jiang Daming, China's land minister, said.

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Authorities have also announced a series of plans to boost the housing economy, as investment in the real estate market affects over 40 different sectors in the country, including cement and furniture.

On Friday, Feb. 19, the finance ministry stated that transaction taxes for those who are buying houses for the second time or even first-time buyers in several cities will be reduced. This is a follow-up announcement to one made on Feb. 2 that down payments for both first- and second-time home buyers in almost all cities will be cut down. The minimum down payment had been already reduced in September 2015.

The ministry further announced that it will increase land allocations for cities that have permitted foreign workers to buy residential properties like Beijing. According to the 2015 report of the National Bureau of Statistics released on January 19, China has more than 700 million square meters of unsold residential and commercial properties, a 15.6 percent increase from the previous year.

Property investment development in 2015 eased to 1 percent, the slowest the country has seen in almost seven years - despite the boost in national sales, the data revealed.

Tagschina, residential lands, real estate, China Real Estate