The housing curbs¹ by Beijing and three other major cities are part of the larger effort to rein² in China's real estate³ industry where home prices tended to skyrocket of late, threatening to create a property bubble, experts said.

北京等4大城市于日前出台楼市限购措施，这是我国加大房地产行业调控力度的部分举措。专家称，近来房价飞涨的势头有制造房地产泡沫的风险。

Last Friday, Beijing raised the down payment requirements for buyers of a second home from 50% to 60% of the full price.

上周五，北京市将二套房买家的首付比例从总价的50%上调至60%。

Now, buyers of a second home are defined as those who have a record of either a residential⁴ property ownership or a mortgage.

现在，二套房买家的认定是名下有登记住宅物业或曾有过房贷记录的买房人。

In the past, if buyers whose mortgage had been paid off had applied⁵ for a new mortgage for a second home, they were regarded as first home buyers.

过去，只要买家的房贷已还清，他们为购买第二套房再申请房贷时则被视作首套房买家。

Like Beijing, Guangzhou, Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou announced similar measures to contain speculative⁶ buying in the residential segment of the property industry, and thereby⁷ ensure housing remains⁸ a necessity for personal use, not an investment avenue.

广州、石家庄和郑州也宣布了和北京类似的举措，以抑制房地产行业住宅领域的投机性购房，从而确保房子仍是满足自住的必需品，而不是投资手段。

Zhang Dawei, chief analyst⁹ with Centaline Property, said the measures would have a significant impact on Beijing's housing market, particularly preowned homes and luxury properties.

中原地产首席分析师张大伟表示，这一措施会对北京的房地产市场有重要的影响，特别是二手房和奢华豪宅。

"People who sell one apartment to buy another one will be defined as buyers of a second home and have to pay higher down payment. This would hurt sales of preowned homes as well as their price growth. If the new measures continue for a year, I'd expect the capital's average price of preowned homes to drop around 15 percent," said Zhang.

张大伟说道：“那些卖掉一套房，随后再买另一套房的人会被定义为二套房买家，将不得不支付更高的首付。这将影响二手房的销售及价格增长。如果新措施持续一年，我预计北京二手房的平均价格将会下降15%左右。”