Foreigners must provide documentation to purchase property

Although a recently released circular does not provide any new restrictions to foreigner housing purchases – they are still allowed to buy only one flat for their own use – it does stipulate extra measures the government is requiring to regulate the market.

David Blumenfeld, a Shanghai-based real estate partner at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker said: “It's not that there are new rules but, rather, that the government is requiring that buyers make submissions that allows the government to better monitor compliance with the existing rules.”

On November 15, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development (Mohurd) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) issued a notice reiterating its restriction on housing purchases by foreign individuals or foreign companies, the Circular on Further Regulating the Administration of Housing Purchases by Overseas Organisations and Individuals (关于进一步规范境外机构和个人购房管理的通知) (Circular 186).