Shanghai rolls out new measures to boost property market

SHANGHAI -- Authorities in Shanghai on Monday unveiled a set of measures to provide further targeted support for homebuyers.

Encompassing nine specific measures, the move aims to meet the diversified living needs of residents in an improved manner.

Major measures include easing home-purchase restrictions further for non-Shanghai residents and divorced couples, allowing families with two or more children to purchase an additional home, and lifting the lending cap for mortgages involving the housing provident fund, which is a long-term housing savings plan that comprises compulsory monthly deposits from both employers and employees.

The minimum downpayment ratio for individual commercial housing mortgages has been lowered to 20 percent for first-home purchases and 35 percent for second-home purchases. The minimum downpayment ratio for second-home purchases in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone Lingang New Area and six of its suburban districts has been adjusted to 30 percent.