BEIJING - Loans for home buyers in Beijing grew at a slower pace last year due to a series of regulatory policies to curb the property market, authorities said Thursday.

In December last year, Beijing individual housing loans grew by 1.81 billion yuan ($281 million) from November, the lowest level of the year, down by 10.4 billion yuan compared with the average growth in the first 11 months, according to figures from the People's Bank of China.

New loans for house purchases accounted for 20.2 percent of the total new yuan loans in 2017, down 20.1 percentage points year-on-year.

Outstanding home loans in Beijing were 966.4 billion yuan at the end of last year, up 136.6 billion yuan year-on-year. The growth was 25.2 percentage points lower than in 2016.

China has intensified efforts to rein in property speculation, particularly in major cities.

In March 2017, Beijing raised the downpayment for second homes and suspended housing loans with a maturity of 25 years or more.

Chinese authorities have constantly reiterated that "houses are built for living in, not speculation," pledging to step up housing system reform and foster a long-term market mechanism.