The Central Government plans to launch six new measures to enhance China's residential market, including the construction of more budget apartments to adjust the gap in its domestic market, according to a conference hosted by Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday.

The Central Government's plan asks local governments to focus on the development of medium or low priced houses and budget apartments. Local governments should create and implement drafts for its residences, along with stipulating the proportion of budget apartments and luxury suites.

The plan will speed up the establishment of low-budget houses and second hand homes for the growing need of low income families.

The new policy also asks for an increased utilization of tax, credit and land policies as well as better controls on land requisitions and relocation requests.

The overall supervision and management of housing developments will be enhanced, to assist in the prevention of arbitrarily altering of projects and breaches of trade rules and speculations, which may disturb the market order.

Local governments will also monitor the statistical and information disclosure system, which will help make the market more transparent.

Housing prices in 70 medium and large cities in China rose on average by 5.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2005, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics reported on April 20.

Dalian, a coastal city in Liaoning Province, recorded a 14.9 percent increase, the highest of all cities. It was followed by Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and Qingdao in Shandong Province.

However, the amount of unsold properties across the nation rose 23.8 percent to 123 million square meters by the end of March from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on April 22.

Source: Shanghai Daily