Shanghai is to launch an investigation into the implementation of current restrictions on home purchase, according to a notice published by the city's housing bureau on Sept 6.

"An inspection team will be set up to supervise the execution of the property tightening policies from October to December," said the notice published on the bureau's website.

"The investigation will focus on projects with high selling prices, rapid price hikes and a high proportion of foreign homebuyers," the notice said.

Activities such as offering fake certificates in home purchase and the violation of existing pre-sale policies will be punished severely, it said. The cases exposed by the inspection team will be made public by the bureau at a later date.