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Lifting of home-purchase ban brings down divorce rate

[Photo by Geng Guoqing/For China Daily]

The lifting of home-purchase restrictions has supposedly led to a dramatic decline in divorce rate in Central China's Zhengzhou city, Dahe Daily reported Monday.

Workers at Zhengzhou Civil Affairs Bureau said they have seen less fake divorces since the restrictions were lifted on Aug 9. Previously couples divorced to avoid high down payment and a mandatory 20 percent capital gains tax on all residential property sales, or to qualify to buy new houses as a single person. The restrictions were in place since Jan 2011.

The number of couples seeking divorce has fallen for the third consecutive month in Zhengzhou city--490 couples divorced in August, 446 in September, and 404 in October, also a year-on-year periodical decline.