Residents are being urged to report irregularities in buying or
selling property as the Shenzhen Municipal Government continues its
crackdown on unscrupulous property agents and developers.
The new move, announced Tuesday, came as housing prices in
Shenzhen continued to surge in the first half of the year, with the
price increases topping the list of 70 major Chinese cities.
The city government believes property developers and agents’
irregularities, such as stockpiling of new apartments, misleading
advertisements and price rigging, have been partly to blame for the
price surge.
The continued price rises have in turn fueled market
speculation.
More than 10 government departments, including the development
and reform, trade and industry, supervision, finance, planning,
land and housing administration and taxation bureaus, have
published their phone numbers in Chinese-language newspapers,
urging the general public to report irregularities in the sale of
new apartments and pre-owned homes.
They promise to carry out thorough investigations into
developers and agents on receipt of substantial complaints.
In a separate development, the city’s land and housing
administration bureau is drafting a price evaluation system to
prevent home sellers from evading tax by under-declaring
prices.
Personal income tax and other taxes are charged according to the
price of an apartment. Many sellers sign two contracts with buyers,
with the one submitted to the bureau stating a much lower price so
that the payable taxes are lower.
After the price evaluation system comes into use, a home sale
may be taxed according to the independently valued market price if
the contract is thought to understate the price.
(Shenzhen Daily July 5, 2007)