Some 35.4 percent of visitors to a housing show in Beijing said they would suspend their house-buying plan after the central government took a series of measures aiming to rein in the skyrocketing house prices.

A sample survey of over 1,000 visitors to the exhibition showed the country's macro-control measures have had a psychological effect on the potential house buyers.

The survey by China Index Research Institute, which got 961 valid returns, revealed that 86.4 percent of the respondents said the current housing prices in Beijing are high and they can not afford a house.

Beijing's house trading has declined remarkably after the government issued a circular demanding that from June 1, homes smaller than 90 square meters must account for at least 70 percent of the total floor space in any new residential housing projects.

Mortgage lenders are required to pay at least 30 percent down payment for buying houses bigger than 90 square meters.

The circular also includes measures against property speculators, such as imposing the full income tax rate on the sale of homes that have been owned for less than five years.

According to the website of the Beijing Municipal Construction Committee, an average 450 sets of houses were sold in August, compared with 600 sets before the introduction of the new policies related to property industry.

The survey also found that 39.8 percent of the respondents held that the hoarding of properties by developers was the main reason leading to fast growth of house prices in the capital.

And nearly 40 percent of the surveyed visitors believed that although housing prices would continue to climb, the pace would slow down a bit.

While 16.4 percent said the house prices would fall.

(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2006)