This Chinese City Has Vowed to Keep Home Prices from Rising This Month

General Images Of Property And Retail As China's Growth Slows To Three-Year Low
A mural depicting Mao Zedong, former leader of China, is displayed near high-rise residential and commercial buildings in Changsha, Hunan Province, China, on Friday, July 13, 2012. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012 from a year earlier, China's National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Nelson Ching/Bloomberg via Getty Images

China‘s inland city of Changsha has pledged home prices will not rise in November from a month ago, as more local governments try to rein in surging property markets.

The city’s government will implement seven broad measures to curb speculative buying, including “strict inspection” of home prices, “strict supervision” of capital flowing into the market and “strict control” of pre-sale transactions, according to a statement on its website on Friday.

The government said it has made specific work plans, without elaborating.

Home prices in Changsha, the capital city of southern Hunan province, had been one of the lowest among central provincial capitals due to ample land supply, a more leisurely economy and subdued local demand.

But prices have jumped in recent months as property speculators flocked to Changsha seeking investment opportunities as the country’s top housing markets showed signed of overheating.

New home prices in Changsha rose 4.4% in October from a month earlier, while year-on-year growth jumped to 16.5%, both outpacing nationwide averages, official data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Prices in China‘s biggest cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have climbed by around 30% from a year earlier, raising worries about potential property bubbles.