Hangzhou joins list of Chinese cities further easing home-buying rules

HANGZHOU - The eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou has announced that it will reduce the minimum down payment ratio for commercial housing mortgages, becoming the country's latest major city to further relax real estate policies.

The capital city of Zhejiang province will lower the down payment requirement from 20 percent to 15 percent for first-home buyers, and from 30 percent to 15 percent for second homes, said a notice issued on Wednesday.

The city will also scrap price caps for new commercial houses built on land newly leased out by the state for residential use, according to the notice.

Major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have adjusted their real estate policies following a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, which underlined the need for efforts to reverse the real estate market downturn and stabilize the market.

Beijing last month announced that it would lower the threshold on non-locals buying real estate in the downtown area and reduce the minimum down payment ratio for individual home buyers.

It followed similar decisions by Shanghai and Guangzhou to lift restrictions on buying properties or reduce the minimum down payment ratio.