China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has interviewed the main people responsible for the five municipal governments which saw rapid growth in home prices, and ordered them to immediatly crack down on speculation, China Times reported.
It was the second time for Haikou and Sanya, two major cities in the island province Hainan, to be interviewed. Between the interviews held in May and August, the two were among the top three cities with the fastest growth rates in China.
Prices of new commercial housing in Sanya and Hainan rose by 14.8% and 11.1% respectively, and that of second-hand houses increased by 6.4% and 7%.
In the latest interview, the requirements of the Ministry were more stringent. In addition to effectively increasing the supply of housing and land, rectifying market order and strengthening public opinion guidance, the Ministry’s attitude towards speculation has changed from “containing” to “severely cracking down.”
The remaining three cities interviewed were Yantai in Shandong province, Yichang in Hubei province and Yangzhou in Jiangsu province.