Preferential tax policies to boost home sales

Preferential taxation policies unveiled by Shanghai and Beijing are expected to further enable the recovery of local real estate markets by lowering purchase costs and boosting market confidence, industry analysts said on Tuesday.

"The policies, which are aligned with the central government's deployment, have shown the municipal governments' resolution in stabilizing the property market," said Liu Zhuowei, an analyst with the China Index Academy.

"The adjustments in taxation will be helpful in both releasing potential demand for improved housing and speeding up the circulation between new and the used home markets by lowering transaction costs and simplifying taxation procedures. The new policies will reduce personal income taxes and deed taxes in home transactions, which can make trading costs more reasonable and help in stabilizing market expectations," Liu said.