Housing market expected to cool under strict purchasing limits (3)

Ten of the 70 surveyed cities reported increases of more than 10 percent from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Six cities also saw second-hand home prices go up by at least 10 percent.
In Beijing, one square meter in a new apartment sold for an average of 20,000 yuan last year. But the square meter price for apartments within the Fourth Ring Road, the urban area, exceeded 34,000 yuan (about 5,151 U.S.dollars), more than 10 times the monthly income of an average Beijing resident.
Beijing's tightening rules now require non-locally registered families to pay income taxes for five consecutive years before purchasing an apartment.
Nie said that the policy would reduce at least 20 percent of the house purchasing demand in Beijing and prompt many qualified home buyers to wait for a turning point on the heated housing market.