呼和浩特市发布书面文件取消楼市限购措施

A city in northern China reversed course twice this week and is now dropping its limits on the purchase of second homes, in a sign of the uncertainties in China's softening property market.

中国北方一座城市本周两次修改房地产相关政策，目前正式发文取消了二套住房的限购措施，这一迹象显示出，中国疲软的房地产市场松绑前景仍不明朗。

A statement on the website of the city of Hohhot in China's Inner Mongolia region said that authorities there won't demand information on a homebuyer's prior home purchases. The move effectively allows residents to purchase second and subsequent homes, a shift from a previous policy that made it more difficult for them to buy a second home and banned them from buying a third.

中国内蒙古自治区呼和浩特市在政府网站上发布通知称，居民购买商品住房时不再要求提供住房套数查询证明。此举实际上允许居民购买二套或多套住房，从而取消了之前居民难以购买二套房并被禁止购买二套以上住房的限购措施。

The statement--dated Thursday--echoed one that the city issued last week then rescinded shortly after, according to local media. The Friday statement from Hohhot's Property Development Supervisory and Management Department was headlined 'Clarification.'

据当地媒体表示，这份落款日期为周四的通知是对上周该市发布的一份文件所作的更正，那份文件在发出后不久就被撤下。呼和浩特房地产开发监督管理处(Property Development Supervisory and Management Department)周五发布这份通知的标题是“更正声明”。

Hohhot is the first Chinese city to issue a written statement to announce a reversal of the administrative curbs, though it isn't clear whether other cities would follow suit. Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia region, is a modest-size city by Chinese standards, with a population of 2.8 million people.

呼和浩特市是中国首个发布书面文件宣布取消限购措施的城市，不过尚不清楚其他城市是否会效仿。呼和浩特市是内蒙古自治区的首府，按中国的标准是一座中型城市，人口为280万。

The about-face reflects uncertainty among Chinese cities about whether and how much to loosen property-market curbs enacted under pressure from China's central government. Other cities have attempted to ease curbs only to retreat days later.

呼和浩特市这一政策的反复显示出，中国各城市在是否及如何放松房地产市场调控措施方面存在不确定性。这些调控政策是在中央政府的压力下实施的。其他一些中国城市此前也曾试图放松楼市调控政策，但都在数日之后恢复了相关调控政策。

Since 2011, Hohhot, along with more than 40 Chinese cities, had implemented restrictions on the number of homes people could buy, as part of the central government's campaign to rein in speculative purchases that were pushing home prices out of reach for ordinary Chinese people.

自2011年以来，包括呼和浩特在内的40多个中国城市都实施了住房限购政策，这些政策是中央政府抑制楼市投机炒作方案的一部分，此类投机行为已将中国的房价推高至普通中国民众无力购买的价位。

But the housing market in many cities outside Beijing and Shanghai are now beleaguered with an excessive supply of apartments. Developers looking clear inventory have started to cut prices. Home buyers, wary of further price cuts, have stayed on the sidelines.

但除北京和上海外，中国许多城市的住宅市场现在正面临供应过剩的困境。为消化库存，一些开发商已开始降价促销。而出于未来可能会进一步降价的考虑，购房者则持观望态度。

Housing sales in the first five months this year fell 10.2% to 1.97 trillion yuan ($316 billion), compared with the same period a year earlier. Average home prices in China also recorded a decline in May from April, the first month-over-month fall in two years.

今年前五个月，中国的住宅销售金额较2013年同期下降10.2%，至人民币1.97万亿元。5月份的平均住宅价格也较4月份出现下跌，这是两年来首次出现环比下跌。

This year, central government officials have said that they are giving local governments more autonomy to make changes to their own property measures according to the local conditions. But local governments have been uncertain about how far they can go to loosen the shackles of property curbs, and have tiptoed around the question of loosening.

中央政府官员今年已表示，将给予地方政府更多自主权，根据本地情况调整当地房地产市场相关措施。但在房地产调控政策能够放松多少的问题上，地方政府却没有把握，因此在放松调控的问题上非常谨慎。