(Yicai) Sept. 30 -- Three of China’s four first-tier cities have eased housing restrictions to a degree not seen before in the current real estate market in a bid to bolster sentiment.

Guangzhou became the first mega city to lift all home buying restrictions yesterday, allowing local and non-local residents to buy as many properties as they want in Guangdong’s provincial capital.

Shanghai eased mortgage requirements and cut taxes and fees, effective tomorrow. The coastal city will also allow non-local residents to buy in the outer ring area after paying a year’s social security or income tax instead of three years, and the authorities reduced down payments for first- and second-time home buyers to 15 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Shenzhen optimized its zone-based home purchase curbs, permitting eligible individuals to buy more than one apartment in non-core areas. The city, also in Guangdong, simultaneously trimmed down payments for first and second homes to 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

The policy changes lower the purchase requirements for locals and non-locals alike, and will boost confidence and stimulate potential demand, said Yan Yuejin, deputy director of the Shanghai E-House China Research and Development Institute.

They also mark an unprecedented level of easing, creating favorable conditions for further policy relaxation and a sustained market recovery across the country, Yan added.

The reforms come after China’s top leadership last week called for adjustments to home purchase restrictions and lower rates on existing mortgages as well as urgent tweaks to land, fiscal, and financial policies to promote the development of a new real estate model.

Editor: Futura Costaglione