Fewer Chinese Citizens Are Planning Home Purchase as Mortgage Rates Rise
Liao Shumin
DATE:  Mar 16 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Fewer Chinese Citizens Are Planning Home Purchase as Mortgage Rates Rise Fewer Chinese Citizens Are Planning Home Purchase as Mortgage Rates Rise

(Yicai Global) March 16 -- Fewer people are planning to buy a house in China as mortgage rates continue to rise, according to a survey by the central bank.

The first quarter urban depositor questionnaire by the People's Bank of China shows that 22.9 percent of citizens plan to purchase a property in the coming three months, down 0.3 percentage point from the previous quarter but still marking the third-highest figure in history.

Willingness to buy a house hit an all-time high of 23.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, dating back to when the bank first started tracking the data in 2003.

China began tightening its grip on the real estate market last March, enforcing its "a house is a home, not an investment" mantra and ensuring commercial banks strictly control individual housing loans. Before the government intervened, the nation had been seeing property prices soar nationwide. In Beijing, prices grew for over two straight years from early 2015, not dipping until June 2017.

Some 31.4 percent of citizens expect house prices to go up next quarter, 0.6 point higher than the previous quarter, while 9.9 percent expect prices will fall, down 0.6 point.

Outside of real estate, citizens plan to increase spending over the next three months on travel, education, healthcare, high-value products, culture and entertainment and insurance.

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Keywords:   Pboc,REAL ESTATE,Mortgages