Survey: Housing price decline risks are top concern for 70% of bankers

More than 70 percent of Chinese bankers regard risks of plummeting housing prices as their top concern, although they predicted a bullish property market in the long run, according to the Chinese Bankers Survey Report 2010 released today.

The survey was conducted by China Banking Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers and targeted high executives and managers from domestic banking financial institutions.

This year's Chinese bankers survey found that most respondents believed that the property market would go down in the short term but will return to the upward trend in the long run. The limited land resources and ongoing urbanization are two major reasons for this assessment.

"In the next couple of year s— or even in a longer period — property prices will rise steadily," said a respondent.

Data released by the central bank on Oct. 13 showed that individual housing mortgage loans increased by 247 billion yuan in September, accounting for over 40 percent of the month's overall credit expansion.

"We feel that the uncertainties in the housing market have increased significantly...the long-existing irrational factors in the market have made us highly prudent toward the property industry," said a high executive from a Chinese bank.

Meanwhile, the risk chain in property development loans and the impact of hot money also deepened bankers' concerns.

By People's Daily Online