The Chinese authorities are weighing the possibility of implementing
further property tightening measures as they pay close attention to
the risks that property loans could pose to the banking system, the
Shanghai Securities News reported Tuesday, citing unnamed people
familiar with the matter.
The State Council will send six teams to investigate the property
markets in 12 provinces, which will include inspecting property loans,
the newspaper said without elaborating further. Such inspections are
routine in China.
As changes in revenue from land transactions could affect local
government financing platforms, and any change in the financial
situation of property developers could affect real estate development
and heighten the risks of property loans, China's banking regulator is
considering further curbs on property loans and property trust
operations, the newspaper said, citing the people.
China's property market has shown signs of a turnaround in recent
months, as sales from first time home buyers and upgraders picked up
following more accommodative monetary policy and local tweaks to
property curbs. The central bank has cut interest rates twice since
June and has lowered the reserve requirement ratio of banks three
times since November 2011.
Officials have said the rebound in sales and prices in some Chinese
cities is a cause for concern, and reiterated that the property
tightening measures must be kept in place.
China's property market faces the risk of a retaliatory rebound that
could cause tightening measures to fail, the China Securities Journal
reported Tuesday, citing a report from a government think tank.
An easing in monetary policy would affect the property market and make
it more difficult to implement property tightening measures, the
newspaper cited the report, issued by the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, as saying.
The report recommends that China should expand property taxes, abolish
the pre-sale system currently in place for some segments of the
property market, and improve differential financial policies.
Currently, credit policies such as lower mortgage rates for first-time
home buyers and a blanket ban on mortgages for third and subsequent
home-buyers are in effect.
Newspaper website: http://www.cs.com.cn, www.cnstock.com
Write to djnews.shanghai@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 23, 2012 22:25 ET (02:25 GMT)
No comments:
Post a Comment