BEIJING -- Twelve property firms have been fined a total of 3.64 million yuan ($563,000) by China's price watchdog for failing to mark or fabricating the sale prices of homes they were selling, according to the country's top economic planner.
The malpractices were discovered during inspections of property sales agencies in eight cities including Tianjin, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on its website.
The NDRC announced in March a new regulation that requires sellers give the price of homes they intend to sell. The regulation went into effect on May 1.
The regulation is aimed at addressing public complaints over a lack of transparency in commercial property pricing.
Real estate company Guangzhou Junhua was fined 500,000 yuan for misleading buyers by marking sale prices of the houses it sold as higher than the actual transaction prices, while the Tianshan real estate company in Tianjin was fined 60,000 yuan for failing to give the prices of some properties it had up for sale.
