Under the new measures issued by the central Government, provincial capitals and other major cities with skyrocketing housing prices must institute purchase limits to rein in the property market.

Qingdao, Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing are the first major cities to implement the policy.

Registered residents in these four cities are prohibited from buying a third home and non-registered residents will not be allowed to buy a second. But details differ in these cities. The purchase limits in Chengdu only apply to homes within the downtown area.

In Shanghai, residents without the city's residency certificate can only purchase a home after submitting proof of a year of paid taxes. But in Beijing, this policy has been extended to five years.

In both Beijing and Shanghai, without tax certification, non-registered residents will be barred from all property purchases.