(TMTPOST)—Beijing has taken another step to loosen its housing policy by nullifying a measure that prohibited certain divorced persons from purchasing a residential property in the city within three years after their divorce.

The removal of the ban, announced on Wednesday through the latest information on the city's official housing website, is part of nation-wide policies aimed at encouraging home purchases.

Effective immediately, individuals in Beijing will no longer face time constraints when purchasing homes after a divorce, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

According to the website of Beijing's housing commission, the ban on homebuying of divorced homebuyers, which was introduced in August 2021, is now invalid.

The document specified that if a couple is divorced, and the number of properties owned by the original family before the divorce does not meet the provisions of the housing purchase restriction policy of the city, then any party shall not buy a property in the city within three years of the divorce.

The rationale behind the document was to uphold the principle that homes are for living, not speculation, as outlined on the website of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Reports suggest that prior to the issuance of the document, some Beijing residents were resorting to "fake divorces" to obtain purchase qualifications and acquire additional properties.

Wang Xiaoran, chief analyst at the Zhuge Data Research Center, believes that the revocation of this document sends a positive signal to the market, affirming the trend of relaxation of purchase restrictions.

These policies explain the further adjustment and optimization of the housing policy in China's first-tier cities, said Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute.

The move in Beijing aligns with broader policy adjustments across China. For instance, Guangzhou in Guangdong province recently eased home purchase measures by lifting restrictions on homes exceeding 120 square meters in certain areas. Similarly, Hainan province reduced the minimum down payment for first homes from 25 percent to 20 percent, aiming to boost housing sales. 

On the supply side, efforts to support the real estate sector are underway. Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong revealed during this year's two sessions in early March that an urban real estate financing coordination mechanism had been established in 312 cities across 31 provinces. Additionally, over 6,000 real estate projects have been included in a "white list," indicating government-backed projects suitable for financing support from banks.

Since the beginning of this year, the real estate market has been sluggish, with a year-on-year decline in sales of new and existing homes in the first quarter. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in January and February, the sales of newly built  residential buildings nationwide amounted to 9.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 24.8%. Existing home sales in various regions have generally seen an increase in listings and a decrease in transactions.

For example, as of March 24, the number of existing residential housing transactions in Beijing for the year to date was 28,500, a decrease of 27.8% compared to the same period last year and a decrease of 12.7% compared to the same period in 2022, according to data from the Guoguang Research Institute.