Since January, several cities have announced new policies to lower the housing fund credit ceiling, compared to the policies in last H2, when more than 30 municipal government released housing fund credit.

It's uncertain whether these policies are a sign of a stricter macro-control of the property market, and experts say that the CPC and NPPCC might be watershed moments for the new policy on the property market.

On Feb. 18, the Housing Fund Management Center of Kunshan City announced some policy changes on housing fund crediting. Workers who apply for a fund credit would have to pay into the fund for at least 12 months, whereas previously they only needed to pay the fund for a minimum of 6 months.

The Housing Fund Management Center of Dongguan also introduced regulation that the highest limit for the housing fund credit is eight times what a the worker has paid. At the same time, the down payment of the first house will be at least 30 percent, compared to 20 percent previously using housing fund credit.

Xie Yifeng, president of the Asia-Pacific Real Estate Association said that the tightening of housing fund crediting may be a sign of a stricter macro-control over the property market.
But the director of the Housing Fund Management Center of Jinhua City said that the main reason for the adjustment is the pressure from the large quantity of applications triggered by a hot property market.

According to the figures from the China Index Academy, in January, home transactions in 21 out of 27 monitored cities have increased, and 14 of them more than doubled.