Economy

More Chinese expect house prices to rise: survey

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-20 09:08

A worker sits on scaffolding on a construction site for a new residential building in central Beijing September 17, 2010. [Agencies]

Beijing -- An increasing number of Chinese think house prices will rise further, but fewer bankers expect a pre-emptive monetary policy tightening, according to a quarterly survey by the People's Bank of China released on Sunday.

Out of 20,000 consumers surveyed, 36.6 percent replied that property inflation would continue to accelerate, up from 29.4 percent in the previous poll published in June.

In a separate survey of bankers from 2,900 branches, 63.9 percent of respondents said monetary policy would remain unchanged in the next quarter, up from 51.4 percent in the second quarter.

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In the same vein, 69.4 percent of the bankers said the current monetary policy stance was appropriate. The figure was 11.5 percentage points higher than in the previous poll.

Beijing launched a series of measures in April, including higher down payments, to deter speculative property buying.

Real estate prices in 70 key cities were flat in August and July, resulting in a drop in the annual rate of property inflation, according to official statistics.

But anecdotal evidence is mounting of a rebound in transactions and prices as the impact of the curbs fades.

The authorities are closely monitoring trends but are not yet planning fresh tightening steps, a banking regulatory official said in remarks published on Saturday.

In the central bank survey, 72.2 percent of consumers responded that current property prices are "too high and hard to accept", while 15.6 percent of them said they planned to buy an apartment in the next three months.

A property salesman (2nd L) talks with customers at an exhibition center in Ji'nan, captial of East China's Shandong province, on Saturday September 18, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]