The household registration, or 'hukou', status of Chinese citizens has become more important in home purchase as cities use it as a restriction measure to cool the property market, the Beijing News reports.
As of Monday, all the 14 cities which have released the local package of rules on home purchases, following the central government's property tightening measures announced in January, have included household registration status to restrict home purchases.
The package for Beijing, which was considered to be the strictest, requires that non-Beijing residents must have paid their monthly social security contribution or income tax for five consecutive years before they are eligible to buy their first apartment in the city. While people with Beijing residence permits will be limited to two properties, eligible non-locals will be allowed to buy only one.
Non-local residents in most other cities are required to pay their monthly social security contribution or income tax for one year.
The restriction measures have affected the property market in these cities. According to statistics from real estate agency Centaline, quantities of both buyers and properties on sale in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin dropped dramatically in February.
On the other hand, most cities have yet to publicize their annual "controlled" price targets for newly-built homes as required by the State Council.
While property dealings are expected to drop 5 to 10 percent across the country this year, house prices are estimated to remain at the same level as last year, according to Shenyin & Wanguo Securities.
However, the new rules have boosted the rental market as many home owners choose to rent out their houses instead of selling them. Rents increased a lot after the Spring Festival holiday, acoording to an agent at Beijing Homelink real estate agency.
