(Yicai Global) Dec. 28 -- The number of Chinese people intending to buy homes in the next three months has dropped to a six-year low as those who believe prices will fall outnumber those who think they will rise, according to the findings of a quarterly central bank survey.

Sixteen percent said they intend to buy a new home in the first quarter of next year, the bank’s report showed yesterday, down from 17.1 percent in the previous survey and the lowest since the third quarter of 2016.

For the latest report, the People’s Bank of China polled 20,000 urban residents between October and this month.

Some 18.5 percent of the people surveyed expect house prices to drop in the next three months, up from the previous 16.3 percent, while 14 percent expect them to rise, down from 14.8 percent. Meanwhile, 53.7 percent see prices staying the same, down from 56.6 percent. The rest were ‘don’t knows.’

Those expressing a willingness to invest more stood at 15.5 percent, down from 19.2 percent, while those willing to save more was 61.8 percent, up from 58.1 percent. Some 22.8 percent plan to spend more, the same as the previous quarter.

According to the entrepreneurs the PBOC surveyed, the macroeconomic heat indexes, which gauge their opinion on the current economic situation, both fell.

The entrepreneurs’ macroeconomic heat index was 23.5 percent, down from 26.9 percent, with 53.7 percent of entrepreneurs indicating that the economy was ‘cold,’ 45.5 percent that it was ‘normal,’ and less than 1 percent that it was ‘hot.’

The bankers' macroeconomic heat index was 17.4 percent, down from 19.9 percent. About two-thirds believe the economy is ‘cold,’ and about a quarter that it is ‘normal.’ They predicted an index reading of 29.3 percent for the next quarter, according to the PBOC’s report.

Editor: Martin Kadiev