BEIJING (REUTERS) - China could increase the downpayment ratio and lending rates for buyers of second homes in cities where prices are rising too quickly, the State Council said on Friday.

Local governments must set home price control targets in the first quarter, the central government said in a statement on its website. The State Council, China's cabinet, last week restated its intention to extend a pilot property tax programme to more cities and urged local authorities to put price control targets on new homes, in the latest effort to calm real estate markets.