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Originally Posted by warlock5
This isn't exactly breaking news, but the LA Times picked it up --
"Banks were ordered to raise their best rate on home loans to 5.5% from 5%. Home buyers were required to make down payments of at least 30%, up from 20%. A 5.5% capital gains tax on home sellers' profits was imposed. Beijing also levied a 5% tax on the sale price of homes sold before two years of ownership."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...track=morenews |
Some of these measures are not just designed to slow speculation but also to put the brakes on a lot of shoddy semi authorized construction projects. I don't think pricing will go down in Beijing as I have been told that most construction in the city will stop after 2006 so they can clean it all up for the Olympics.
It's hard to imagine that anything going on in Shanghai or Beijing really reflects upon the USA market as China has issues unto itself.