呼和浩特市發佈書面文件取消樓市限購措施

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.

中國北方一座城市本週兩次修改房地產相關政策，目前正式發文取消了二套住房的限購措施，這一跡象顯示出，中國疲軟的房地產市場鬆綁前景仍不明朗。

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.

中國內蒙古自治區呼和浩特市在政府網站上發佈通知稱，居民購買商品住房時不再要求提供住房套數查詢證明。此舉實際上允許居民購買二套或多套住房，從而取消了之前居民難以購買二套房並被禁止購買二套以上住房的限購措施。

The statement--dated Thursday--echoed one that the city issued last week then rescinded shortly after, according to local media.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.'

據當地媒體表示，這份落款日期爲週四的通知是對上週該市發佈的一份文件所作的更正，那份文件在發出後不久就被撤下。呼和浩特房地產開發監督管理處(Property Development Supervisory and Management Department)週五發佈這份通知的標題是“更正聲明”。

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.

呼和浩特市是中國首個發佈書面文件宣佈取消限購措施的城市，不過尚不清楚其他城市是否會效仿。呼和浩特市是內蒙古自治區的首府，按中國的標準是一座中型城市，人口爲280萬。

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.

呼和浩特市這一政策的反覆顯示出，中國各城市在是否及如何放鬆房地產市場調控措施方面存在不確定性。這些調控政策是在中央政府的壓力下實施的。其他一些中國城市此前也曾試圖放鬆樓市調控政策，但都在數日之後恢復了相關調控政策。

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年以來，包括呼和浩特在內的40多箇中國城市都實施了住房限購政策，這些政策是中央政府抑制樓市投機炒作方案的一部分，此類投機行爲已將中國的房價推高至普通中國民衆無力購買的價位。

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，中國許多城市的住宅市場現在正面臨供應過剩的困境。爲消化庫存，一些開發商已開始降價促銷。而出於未來可能會進一步降價的考慮，購房者則持觀望態度。

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.

今年前五個月，中國的住宅銷售金額較2013年同期下降10.2%，至人民幣1.97萬億元。5月份的平均住宅價格也較4月份出現下跌，這是兩年來首次出現環比下跌。

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.

中央政府官員今年已表示，將給予地方政府更多自主權，根據本地情況調整當地房地產市場相關措施。但在房地產調控政策能夠放鬆多少的問題上，地方政府卻沒有把握，因此在放鬆調控的問題上非常謹慎。