PROPERTY sale contracts that were signed before Sept. 30 are valid, according to a notice issued by the city s housing watchdog Thursday night.
The ruling gives a green light to up to 3,000 contracts which were previously affected by new housing rules restricting home purchases in the city.
The new rules, which became effective Oct. 1, limit families with Shenzhen hukou to buying two properties, and those without Shenzhen hukou to one, intensifying government efforts to curb housing speculation.
It was previously estimated about 3,000 properties, including new homes and pre-owned apartments, would be affected by the rules. Official figures showed that 477 new homes were sold Sept. 30, up 165 percent from the 92 units sold Sept. 1. Also on Sept. 30, a total of 961 pre-owned homes were sold nearly double the daily average for September.
But many of the transactions were not completed before the implementation of the new rules, under which such homeowners would not have been able to register their property ownership with the city s housing and construction bureau.
According to the notice, such property owners, however, can now complete the transactions and register their ownership with the watchdog.
Deposits, downpayments and full payments that have been made through banks Sept. 30 will remain valid, the notice said. However, payments made in cash were not included, according to the notice.
The notice was issued after a number of disputes concerning such properties was reported. On Saturday, a homebuyer took a seller to Bao an District People s Court, seeking the return of her deposit of 30,000 yuan (US$4,478).
It was the first lawsuit concerning the rules limiting home purchases in the country, the Guangzhou-based Information Times said yesterday.
The homebuyer, identified only as Du, paid the 30,000-yuan deposit for an apartment in Bao an District in September. However, Du was not eligible to buy a property as her family already owned two apartments in the city. But the seller refused to return the deposit, saying that Du has breached the contract.
The case continues.
More such cases are expected in cities that have adopted similar rules to restrict home purchases, the Times said. Fifteen cities now have such rules.
(SD News)
