(Yicai Global) June 25 --  Two Chinese second-tier cities of Xi'an in northwestern Shaanxi province and Changsha in central Hunan province have tightened housing policies to control property speculation.

Xi'an has become the first Chinese city to suspend sales of housing to companies in an urban protected area, which should rein in large players' fast gains at the expense of pressed homeseekers. For civilian buyers, each family can only participate in one commercial housing project, usually an office or a shop, at a time. Those who are unmarried or have divorced less than three years ago are no longer prioritized in the city's lottery system for buying new homes.

Property prices in Xi'an rose 89 percent during a period of one year prior to May this year. Housing prices in Beijing and Shanghai declined nearly 10 percent during that time, data published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences shows.

Prior to this change of policy, Xi'an had already put some walls around a ballooning housing bubble. The list of groups who are not allowed to buy property includes local residents who have already bought two or more homes, non-local residents who have bought one, and those without a local 'hukou' or a permanent residence permit, except if they can show a proof of income tax payments for two consecutive years in the city.

Changsha municipal government also prohibited companies from purchasing commercial housing in a restricted area, and the business property that has already been bought can only be flipped after five years from purchase.

Editor: Emmi Laine