Beijing has further loosened property curbs in an effort to revive a sluggish housing market. According to an official notice broadcast by state media, families deemed eligible will, from 9 August, face no limit on the number of residential units they can buy outside the capital’s Fifth Ring Road. The city also reduced the minimum down-payment requirement for second-home purchases financed through Housing Provident Fund loans, a move aimed at lowering the upfront cost for repeat buyers. Details of the new ratio were not disclosed in the notice, but the adjustment adds to a series of nationwide steps by local governments to stabilise real-estate demand amid continuing price and sales weakness.