Housing prices seen inching up (2)

Large property developers such as China Merchants Property Management and Poly Group reportedly all achieved their full-year 2012 sales targets in the first nine or 10 months.

The recovering housing market has increased the tax revenues of local governments, and contributed to the stable performance of the economy, said Gu Yunchang, vice president of the China Real Estate and Housing Research Association.

Gu told the Global Times that tougher policies to curb housing prices would put pressure on the economy.

A recent notice posted by Finance Minister Xie Xuren on the ministry's website calling for property tax reform sparked market speculation that the property tax will be rolled out in more cities, following pilot projects in Chongqing and Shanghai.

It is most likely that the property tax will spread to more cities after the second quarter of 2013, by which time policymakers will be able to tell from economic data whether the economy has stabilized, said He of China Index Academy.

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