Mortgage growth is slowing in the city after soaring for 13
months due to government measures to control credit.
Mortgage loans extended in Shanghai in November increased by 70
million yuan from October, the People's Bank of China Shanghai
headquarters said.
Of the new loans, around 30 million yuan went to newly built
housing and 40 million yuan to second-hand houses.
Analysts said the mortgage slowdown was a result of the Shanghai
real estate market cooling after the central bank took measures to
control the over-expansion of credit.
The average price of an apartment in Shanghai dropped 6.36
percent from October to 7,731 yuan per sq m last month, and the
turnover of new housing fell 11.4 percent to 2.05 million sq m,
according to the China Real Estate Index System.
"More and more investors are holding off on purchase plans so
they can benefit from government policies, which is leading to
decreasing mortgages," said Shao Minghao, head of research at Hanyu
Property.
"From my past experience, mortgages often drop at the end of the
year because banks usually slow their loans business and increase
mortgage repayments," said Shao.
Chen Cheng, director of China's real estate index, said next
year's property market will depend on mortgage and taxation policy
and whether supply has been effectively increased.
As the property and stock markets slow, large amounts of funds
are flowing back to the banking system.
(China Daily December 12, 2007)
