In a move to stem its property prices from soaring beyond the grasp of ordinary folks like in Hong Kong, Shenzhen is introducing a new reform to its housing system.
The municipal government this week published a regulation stipulating that plots sold for subsidised housing should be priced at 30% to 40% of a benchmark land rate which it has just implemented across the city, reported the South China Morning Post yesterday.
Newly affordable homes in its downtown area, where the special economic zone originally was, will be capped at 50,000 yuan (RM29,601) per sq m (10.8 sq ft). In other areas, the ceiling price for affordable homes will be 20,000 and 30,000 yuan per sq m, reported the state-run Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
The mega tech-city which links mainland China to Hong Kong has become a place with one of the most expensive properties when its average residential price increased more than 10 times to above 50,000 yuan per sq m between 2005 and 2015.