China says nearly 1,000 real estate outlets in the nation’s capital have been forced to close this year, as a slew of new government restrictions on property sales continue to cool Beijing’s once red-hot property market.

The official Xinhua news agency reported the slowdown Tuesday, citing a survey by the real estate firm Home Link China.

The survey said Beijing has seen more than 100 real estate storefronts close in each of several consecutive months. It said more than 70 percent of the shuttered stores were owned by small and medium-sized agencies.

Xinhua links the closures to government moves earlier this year restricting residents in 43 major cities from buying second and third homes.

Land and Resources Minister Xu Shaoshi said then that increased demand for property, largely from investors, had driven real estate prices beyond the reach of many Chinese. He said the price increase had led to what he called the “uneven allocation of benefits and social conflicts.”

China last year began tightening limits on mortgage lending to discourage investment buying. Beijing also introduced trial property taxes in some cities.