Shanghai denies easing housing curbs

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) � Shanghai officials on Thursday denied reports a day earlier that the city was easing restrictions on home purchases.

Shanghais� housing regulator said in a statement on Wednesday that there was no truth to the report that it had unwound some restrictions on home purchases introduced in January 2010, adding that its �home sales policies haven�t changed.�

The Shanghai Securities News said in an anonymously sourced report Wednesday that Shanghai would soon allow those without local residential permits to buy second homes if they had lived in the city for more than three years. Read more on original report of Shanghai property-rule easing.

Disappointment over the denial of any rule changes appeared to weigh on some developer shares in Shanghai, with Gemdale Corp. CN:600383 �trading down 0.5%, and Poly Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. CN:600048 �lower by 0.9%.

China�s central government has enacted a series of restriction on housing purchases over the past two years, aiming to curb speculation and cool rapidly rising prices.

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However, with home prices now falling in major Chinese cities, markets have been watching for relaxation of the rules.

While a number of news accounts have since reported an easing of the rules in some municipalities, none of the reports have proven accurate.

Similarly, China Securities Journal reported Thursday that Xiangshan County, located in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, has relaxed some restrictions on home purchases.

The report attributed the information to local real-estate agents and developers which it did not identify.

It said the country would now allow individuals to buy multiple homes, as long as they can pay cash, ending a restriction put into place last year.