国内英语新闻:Beijing expected to reach target goal on housing price control

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Beijing has seen a declining trend in newly built ordinary apartments in the past 11 months of this year, said a report released by the Beijing Real Estate Association on Friday.

That average price of 13,914 yuan (about 2,194.23 U.S. dollars) per square meter from January to November went down 6.3 percent from the yearly average housing price of 14,847 yuan per square meter in 2010, also the target set by the municipal government in attempting to control soaring house prices, said the report.

It is expected that the real-estate market in Beijing will maintain the gradually declining trend. And the target of "a stable yearly price with a slight decline" will be smoothly reached, said Chen Zhi, secretary-general of the association.

In November, first-time home buyers took up about 90 percent of housing consumers for the ninth month in a row, which means the government's measures to crowd out investing or speculative buying and meet the demands of conventional buyers are working, the report said.

This year the government has repeatedly stressed its efforts to contain the runaway property market, through measures including tighter monetary policies, higher down payments, a ban on third-home purchases, price control targets and a trial property tax.