Fearful of an U.S.-style real estate collapse, China has doused the country's sizzling housing market with new rules aimed at cooling property speculation.
The measures, which include raising minimum down payments and restricting purchases of second homes, are already forcing investors to the sidelines. May home sales in Beijing and Shanghai plunged 70% compared with April, while transactions in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen were down 62% over the same period, according to government statistics.
Now policymakers reportedly are planning to add a more powerful tool: a g...

