I have bought and sold property in Kunming. 2006 and 2013. I have helped others sell. Like everything else there are a bunch of steps to go through to both buy or sell. Most are to protect both parties. I had to prove I was not married despite the fact that only my western name was on the title. I used a local lawyer to sell my property who spoke good English and wrote the contracts. There are several. I needed a police document to sell. Notaries are needed. Had to pay cash. Needed proper documents to move the money out of China. I have little trust for most sales agents but they are necessary. Few have experience in working with foreigner sales but will say they do. Who pays the property sales tax can be negotiated sometimes.

Something all of you seem to have in common, although didn't say directly, is that you have/had wives who are citizens of the PRC at the time of property purchase? I assume that laowai are not allowed to buy up Chinese real estate (inexpensive relative to US/European prices) unless married to a PRC citizen, true? Or are 1+ year residence and 1-property limit the only requirements of foreigners now? If that's the case, I'd think we would have heard more about foreign investment driving the price of apartments even higher.

Foreigners could own property without Chinese spouses, then when the market got too hot, they were banned or super highly restricted along with added restrictions and controls for locals too. Now with the market cooling, restrictions on foreigners and locals are loosening, though foreigners of course still have more restrictions than locals.

You haven't priced an apartment in China recently, cause it's not inexpensive. Also, the only foreigners that may have slightly in the least nudged prices up more than 0.1% are Taiwanese and HongKong. And they could find ways around foreign restrictions. It's a myth that foreigners buying apartments contributed to any price rise, but at the hot market times, the gov't had to demonstrate it was trying to reign in prices.

I an other foreigners, not married to Chinese citizens, have bought and sold property in Kunming in the past. Holding the property for over five years had tax advantages for us. The rules and regulations can vary by city and change due to national policies for time to time. There is a lot on the market in Kunming with generally lower prices in my opinion. Be aware many units are completely unimproved by western standards, bare concrete. They must be "decorated".

I remember reading the 5 year sales tax rule was relaxed about a year ago. Now you only have to hold the property for just 2 years to avoid the 15% penalty. This rule applied to everyone, not just foreigners. Or was there an additional foreigner tax as well?

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