Curbs on debt for realtors coming, says official

The central bank and banking regulator may "soon" issue measures to limit the use of debt in real estate purchases after asset prices climbed, a Shanghai official said.

Regulators may reduce "leverage ratios", Fang Xinghai, director-general of Shanghai's financial services office, said at a forum in Beijing yesterday. "I would think that soon you will see these measures coming out of the central bank and banking regulatory commission."

A record $1.27 trillion of new loans this year and inflows of cash from investors betting that the yuan will appreciate threaten to create stock and property bubbles. China's banking regulator plans to review debt levels at some developers on concern that borrowings are fueling excessive gains in property prices, a person familiar with the matter said previously.