The public blames local governments for the continued surge in housing prices, according to a latest survey.
In the survey, released Monday, 67.5% of the 2,582 respondents attributed the continued increase in housing prices to the failure of local governments to control the sector.
The other two culprits were said to be real estate developers' unchecked desire for huge profits and the lack of force of the macro control measures issued by the central government, according to the investigation jointly conducted by China Youth Daily, Sina.com.cn and ePanel, a consulting company.
The results can be compared to another survey conducted two years ago. The forces propelling the surge, according to urban dwellers interviewed in May 2005, were the savage dealings of property investors, real estate developers' constant pursuit of high profits and the booming urban population.
China Youth Daily reported a representative from the National People's Congress telling the media that the central government had issued an order last year to dismiss local officials for their inability to curb housing prices, and this year China plans to intensify its punishment of incompetent officials.
According to figures released by the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC), housing prices are expected to continue to increase in Beijing this year, however at a relatively stable rate. Influenced by the "bad news," the public is losing hope in the government's ability to control the heated housing market, with only 20.6% still believing the government can turn the tables, compared with 58.9% two years ago.
Over the past two years, although related government departments have introduced numerous measures to rein in the over-heating prices, including increasing loan interest rates for individual housing purchases, imposing income taxes on secondhand house dealers and collecting land appreciation tax, they have gotten minimal results.
In November last year, the housing prices in 70 cities across China increased 5.8 percent year-on-year, with the price for a newly-built house in Beijing jumping 10.3 percent, topping the pack.
Facing the unaffordable housing prices and the great gap between their rise and relatively stable income levels, many people are deciding to wait it out. Only 20.4 percent of those surveyed said they intended to buy a house this year, while nearly 50 percent firmly insisted they had no such plans.
Surrounded by the overall pessimistic attitude towards housing prices, 18.1% of those surveyed said they believed it would take some time for the government's macro control measures to take effect. |
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