口译时事：中国的楼市限制措施令市场困惑

　　Anxious buyers and sellers filled city offices in Beijing and Shanghai on Monday looking for ways to fend off new property-sales restrictions, even as fresh data showed how difficult it will be for Chinese officials to rein in surging home prices.

　　周一，大量购房者和售房者出现在北京和上海的房地产交易中心，他们都在焦急地寻找避开新房地产交易限制措施的办法。与此同时，最新数据显示，中国官员想要控制不断增长的房价将非常困难。

　　Home sellers and buyers lined up at property transaction centers in both cities after they detailed new limits on home sales over the weekend effective Monday. Among them, both affirmed they would follow an earlier edict from the central government that includes a 20% capital gains tax on the sale of second homes.

　　周一，在北京和上海的房产交易中心，售房者和购房者排起了长队。此前，这两个城市上周末详细公布了房地产销售的新限制措施。这些措施于本周一生效。北京和上海都宣布，将遵循中央政府早些时候的决定， 包括对出售非唯一住房征收20%的个人所得税。

　　Beijing announced its own restrictions limiting single people to the purchase of just one home, which some industry observers interpreted as partly an attempt to stop married couples from divorcing to skirt limits on how many homes one household can own.

　　北京还宣布了单身人士只能购买一套住房的限制措施，一些产业分析人士认为，这在一定程度上是为了防止已婚人士通过离婚来避开对家庭拥有房产数量的限制。

　　Homeowners and sales agents on Monday quizzed local officials about the details and how they might hurt sales. 'I hope the seller doesn't go back on his word,' said one home buyer, who gave her surname as Hong, at a transaction office in Shanghai, adding, 'I'm not sure if the tax needs to be paid.'

　　一些房主和房产中介周一向当地的工作人员询问了限制措施的细节，以及它们将如何影响房地产销售。在上海房地产交易中心，一名自称姓洪的购房者说，我希望售房者不会出尔反尔，这名购房者补充说，不确定是不是要交税。

　　At a transaction office in Beijing's Chaoyang district people jostled their way to the front of a line for information on the new rules. Many feared sellers would pass the 20% levy straight on to them.

　　在北京朝阳区的一个交易中心，人们都想挤到队伍前面咨询与新规定有关的信息。许多人担心，售房者会把20%的税转嫁到他们身上。

　　'It's just this tax,' said a woman holding a baby. She gave her English name, Katie, and said she was hoping to buy a first home with her husband. 'We're so worried about this tax.' The official at the end of the line brusquely referred all questions on the issue to the tax office on the next block.

　　一名抱着孩子的妇女说，我就想问问税的问题。她的英文名叫凯蒂(Katie)，希望与丈夫购买第一套住宅。她说，我们担心税的问题。队伍前面的工作人员生硬地让她到下一个街区的税务局咨询所有相关的问题。

　　China's central government is seeking to tame housing costs for fear a surge could lead to social unrest, and since 2010 has enacted a number of measures to limit credit and the number of home purchases to cool the market.

　　由于担心房价过高可能引发社会动荡，中央政府正在寻求控制房价。中国政府自2010年以来已经实施了一系列限制信贷和购房数量的措施，目的就是为楼市降温。

　　But the market appears to be speeding up along with the improving pace of China's economic growth, helped in recent weeks by home sellers moving to sell to stay ahead of new curbs.

　　但是，房地产市场似乎正与中国的经济增长一同加速。由于售房者最近几周抢在新限制措施出台前达成交易，这似乎提振了中国的经济增长。

　　The average price of housing in 100 cities saw an uptick of 3.9% in March from a year earlier, the fourth straight month of annual gains after eight months of declines, data provider China Real Estate Index System said Monday. The rise is above the 2.48% gain in February and 1.2% increase in January.

　　数据供应商中国房地产指数系统(China Real Estate Index System)周一说，3月份中国100个城市新建住宅均价同比上涨3.9%，是连续八个月回落后，同比连续第四个月上涨，涨幅高于2月份和1月份2.48%和1.2%的同比涨幅。

　　On a month-on-month basis, the average housing price in March rose 1.03% to 9,998 yuan ($1,607) a square meter, from February's 0.83% and marking the 10th consecutive monthly gain.

　　3月新建住宅均价环比涨1.03%，至每平方米人民币9,998元，涨幅高于2月的0.83%，为连续第10个月环比上涨。

　　Prices in the second-hand housing market in the major Chinese cities also accelerated. Second-hand home prices in Beijing and Shanghai increased 22.1% and 17.5% in March from a year earlier, up from February's 21.1% and 14.4%, respectively.

　　中国主要城市的二手房价格也在加速上涨。3月份北京和上海二手房价格同比分别上涨22.1%和17.5%，高于这两个城市2月份21.1%和14.4%的同比涨幅。

　　Analysts have expressed doubt about how effective the latest round of property curbs could be.

　　分析人士对于这轮最新楼市调控措施的效果表示怀疑。

　　Lax implementation by local governments, which are still dependent on revenue from selling land at high prices, could plague these efforts again.

　　地方政府对规定执行不力可能会使中央的调控努力再次受挫。地方政府目前仍依靠高价卖地来获得财政收入。

　　Pledges over the weekend by other local governments, such as in the cities of Nanjing, Dalian and Jinan, were seen as less stringent by investors. An index tracking Shanghai-listed property shares rose 0.9% Monday, outperforming the Shanghai Composite Index's 0.1% decline.

　　南京、大连和济南等地方政府上周末的承诺在投资者看来并不那么严格。一个跟踪在上海上市的房地产股的指数周一上升了0.9%，表现好于下跌了0.1%的上证综指。

　　In Beijing and Shanghai, some property agents said sellers have changed their sales listings into rentals instead. 'No one wants to sell anymore,' said Chen Jun, a real-estate agent at Haiyu Dichan, a property agency in Shanghai.

　　北京和上海的一些房产中介说，卖家已将挂牌出售的房屋变为出租。上海海宇地产的中介陈军(音)说，没人想卖房子了。

　　'Some people are asking how to dodge taxes, and some are still considering a fake divorce,' Mr. Chen said. 'They don't remarry later. It's just not healthy,' he said.

　　陈军说，一些人在问如何避税，一些人仍在考虑假离婚，有些人在离婚后不会复婚，这很不健康。

　　Home resales have long been subject to the 20% tax on profits, but with a lack of proper records of the original sales price, sellers often have been allowed to pay tax of only 1% to 3% of the selling price instead.

　　二手房买卖一直须按照转让所得的20%计征个人所得税，但由于缺少记载原售价的相关凭证，很多时候卖方可仅按照房屋售价的1%至3%缴纳个税。

　　Online, some critics groused that the new restrictions would only hurt some home buyers while doing little to slow the market. 'This policy only limits the young people who haven't bought houses,' said a user on Sina Corp.'s Weibo microblogging service. 'It doesn't do anything to the corrupt officials who own dozens of houses!'

　　一些批评人士在网上抱怨称，新规仅会打击部分购房者，对于遏制楼市增长收效甚微。一位网友在新浪微博说，这个政策不过是限制那些还没买房的年轻人，对拥有几十套房产的腐败官员来说起不到任何作用!

　　'The 20% tax will be passed on to the consumers in the end, so where's the meaning in that?' asked another.

　　另一位网友问道，既然20%的税最终会被转嫁到消费者头上，这么做有什么意义呢?


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