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May Day chill grips housing industry

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A woman walks past an advertisement for a new apartment complex in Shanghai.

Property transactions in China's major cities plummeted during the May Day holiday - traditionally a hot season for home sales, as the government's tightening measures began to take effect.

Average daily transactions of completed apartments in Beijing dropped to two units during the three-day holiday, down 96 percent year-on-year, and that of homes yet to be constructed fell 35 percent to 205 units, according to Beijing Real Estate Transaction website. Compared with April, the transaction volume decreased more than 80 percent.

"While buyers for personal use still took a wait-and-see attitude, speculators with several apartments on hand strengthened their efforts to cash in, thus leading to sluggish transactions," said Andy Zhang, a sales manager with Century 21, a leading real estate brokerage.

On April 30, Beijing municipal government issued 11 detailed rules to further restrict speculative home purchases, among which the rule temporarily preventing local residents from buying no more than one apartment will hit the market most, experts said.

"Property sales will plummet this month, with price cuts at many suburban developments," said Zhang Dawei, researcher with Centaline China.

The situation in Shanghai and Guangzhou is very similar to the capital.

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