CHINESE PROPERTY CURB MEASURES PUSH INVESTORS TO EXTREMES

October 24, 2016

Local Chinese government regulations are limiting real estate purchases by existing property holders, so rather than pass up a good opportunity to buy, some Chinese investors have even resorted to divorcing their spouses to get around the red tape.

China’s rising property prices are pushing buyers to act quickly and somewhat desperately before more regulatory hurdles are imposed, Bloomberg reports. And while the latest figures show markets are beginning to cool in some of China’s hottest cities, in September the price of new homes surged the most in seven years.

Within the first three quarters of 2016, the average price for new homes jumped 30% in tier-one cities like Shanghai, while they rose 13% in tier-two cities, according to Bloomberg data. In an effort to cool prices, local governments in at least 21 cities have been enforcing property curbs such as larger down payments and limiting purchases of multiple units. [Bloomberg]