Developers hunt for cash; Beijing cracks down on fraud

Here's a long Chinese article on Beijing's crackdown on housing eligibility fraud. Chinese are issued residence permits by city and cities such as Beijing restrict housing purchases to those with Beijing residence permits or a long history of living in the city. This is just one form of restriction used to reduce new home demand, in addition to restrictions on the number of homes one can buy, etc. This shows that the government continues to pursue tight policies and is tightening by closing the weak points in regulation. 北京彻查购房资格舞弊 4000万灰色利益链起

Elsewhere, the WSJ reports that developers are looking for overseas investors in Property Investors Lie in Wait for China Slowdown

"In recent months we have seen more brokers wanting to introduce deals to us, but the sellers aren't desperate enough," said Chen Lijian, head of real estate for greater China, at UBS Global Asset Management. "We have capital to deploy, but the deals aren't attractive enough so far."

The outside investors have the luxury of the longer view. Many are looking in smaller cities, where land costs are lower compared with major cities like Shanghai and Beijing. China has in recent years pushed for growth in the interior and western parts of the country in an effort to spread development from its current focus in the south and near the coasts.