China's home prices continue to rise

Buildings are seen in Beijing's central business district, July 11, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

Property prices started to rebound in the second half of 2012. Runaway prices led the government to issue a guideline in March to tighten control on the real estate sector, including higher transaction taxes, restrictions on purchases of multiple homes, and higher down payments.

However, that guideline failed to stop the upsurge of property prices.

Many Internet users, including a typical netizen with the screen name of "beijier", complained on China's Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo about the ineffective measures by the central and local governments that failed to curb increasing home prices.

They said urban residents, especially the wage-earners, just could not see an end to the home price gains running wild.

Zhang Dawei, director of Centaline Property's research center, said that the prices were driven up by the supply-demand imbalance, and the situation could not be turned around in the short term.

"With ample liquidity in hand, property developers are still confident about the prices," Zhang said.

Analysts estimate the government would adopt more tightening measures to bring the housing prices under control.

The State Administration of Taxation said in a statement on Tuesday that it will study the possibility of expanding property tax pilot programs currently implemented in Shanghai and Chongqing.

However, the tax authority did not include any details regarding a timetable for the expansion.