(Yicai) July 9 -- Southern China's Guangzhou relaxed its restrictions on the purchasing of large houses for people coming from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas regions to boost the local real estate market.

After a policy adjustment last week, non-local buyers no longer have limits on the number of houses bigger than 120 square meters they can acquire, Guangzhou Daily reported today. Moreover, they are allowed to buy one smaller home in a restricted area. Before this, non-locals were permitted to purchase only one home in the city in an attempt to prevent speculation.

Based on the new rules, foreigners, passport holders with Chinese roots, and people from Taiwan province need to submit certificates of work or study in the local area while residents of Hong Kong and Macao must submit IDs and permits. Moreover, they must confirm the purchase is for personal use.

After more than a decade of strict regulation, Guangzhou started easing its housing policy in May to rejuvenate sales. Besides that, the city's mortgage policy is one of the loosest among first-tier cities. The minimum down payment ratio for first-time buyers is 15 percent and banks are allowed to lower their mortgage rates as they wish.

Sales are recovering as the number of online contracts to purchase pre-owned homes in Guangzhou jumped 33 percent to almost 10,460 last month from May, reaching a new high since April 2023.

Furthermore, over 7,620 new homes were sold in the city last month, up 48 percent from a month earlier, according to data from the China Index Academy. Such sales amounted to 835,000 square meters, a 49 percent increase.

Editor: Emmi Laine