Beijing eases home purchase limits, raises provident fund loan caps

BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Beijing on Friday introduced a package of measures, including easing housing purchase restrictions for non-local families and increasing housing provident fund loan limits, in a bid to stabilize the property market and better meet residents' housing consumption needs.

These measures, which will take effect on Saturday, were jointly announced in a circular issued by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, and the Beijing Housing Fund Management Center.

Under the new policies, the required period for social insurance or individual income tax payment records in Beijing for non-local families to buy homes within the fifth ring road is reduced from two years to one year, the same as the current requirement outside the fifth ring road.

The city has also raised the housing provident fund loan cap for couples who both contribute to the fund.

The maximum loan amount will double to 2.4 million yuan (about 350,000 U.S. dollars) for first-home purchases and 2 million yuan for second-home purchases, according to the circular.

Eligible homebuyers can receive an additional increase of up to 1 million yuan. These higher limits, amounting to 3.4 million yuan and 3 million yuan, respectively, apply to families who have housing registration in Beijing's six central urban districts but purchase homes in suburban areas, have two or more children, and buy green-certified homes.

The new measures also allow local families who contribute to the housing provident fund to apply for another provident fund loan when purchasing a new property, provided they either have no existing home or own only one home and have fully repaid their previous provident fund loans.