Developers must start to publish the exact sales numbers of their housing projects as soon as they put projects on the market, the local government said as it made its first attempt this year to limit soaring property prices.

The change was among 11 items released by the municipal government yesterday as it moved to make housing more affordable and tackle price manipulation in the real estate market.

Other initiatives include a combination of financial incentives to restrict real estate developers' ability to manipulate housing prices and prevent short-term investors from trading in houses illegally.

The government has also vowed to provide sufficient land and affordable apartments for working-class people in the capital. Vice-Mayor Ji Lin told METRO in an exclusive interview last month that the city government will ensure more than half of municipal housing will be low-cost. The incentives yesterday confirmed that move.

Market analysts have predicted that housing prices will not decline but said they should level out in the next few months with the combination of government incentives to control bubbles in real estate prices.