Buyers of their second residential properties are required to make minimum down payments of 40 percent, according to a notice published on the website of the People's Bank of China yesterday evening.

The central bank also increased the interest rate on mortgage loans for second residential properties to 1.1 times the benchmark one-year lending rate.

The current five-year lending rate now stands at 7.83 percent after the central bank raised it for the fifth time this year on September 13. This means the interest rate for five-year mortgage loans for second houses could reach as high as 8.613 percent following the adjustment .

The move is an attempt to curb rising house prices and speculation in the property market.

As for apartments for commercial use, the down payment has been raised to a high 50 percent while mortgage loans for commercial buildings will be no less than 1.1 times the benchmark one-year lending rate, according to the notice.

The minimum deposit for an apartment of more than 90 sq m is currently 30 percent while for apartments less than 90 sq m the minimum is 20 percent.

Property prices in 70 major cities jumped 8.2 percent in August from a year earlier after gaining 7.5 percent in July, according to figures from the National Development and Reform Commission.