(Yicai) March 31 -- Nanjing, the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, announced a new round of measure to support the real estate market, including the removal of a resale time restriction on homeowners in place for the past eight years.

Effective immediately, homeowners across Nanjing can sell right after obtaining ownership certificates, the city authorities said at a policy briefing today. They previously faced a three-year wait before being able to sell newly purchased homes.

The restriction was introduced in 2017 to cool the property market, which at the time was seen as overheating as prices climbed ever higher. But China’s property market has slumped since 2021, and Nanjing has been gradually relaxing the rules.

Last November, the city allowed families with multiple children to sell homes that were still subject to the resale lock-up period.

Nanjing also became one of China’s first major second-tier cities to fully abolish home purchase limits in September 2023. Only Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen retain such restrictions nationwide.

Nanjing further unveiled targeted support for young homebuyers today, urging banks to offer special financial products with low down payments, reduced interest rates, and flexible repayment terms for buyers aged under 45.

The city also allocated CNY100 million (USD13.8 million) in fiscal funds to subsidize residents upgrading to new homes, with subsidies capped at 1 percent of the purchase value.

Nanjing’s property market has shown a steady recovery so far this year. New home prices rose 0.5 percent last month from January, marking the fastest growth among China’s 70 major cities and the fourth consecutive monthly gain, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Editor: Tom Litting