12 listed banks' property loans total 5t yuan

Total loans extended by 12 listed banks amounted to 21.77 trillion yuan ($3.19 trillion) in 2009, with property-related loans totaling 5.28 trillion yuan, accounting for over 20 percent, according to statistics compiled by the Guangzhou Daily based on the banks' annual business reports.

The 12 banks extended loans of 1.66 trillion yuan to property developers and 3.62 trillion yuan to individuals for home purchasing, according to the statistics.

Property-related loans extended by three major State-owned banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China (BOC) and China Construction Bank (CCB), accounted for 70 percent of the total given out by the 12 listed banks.

ICBC's property-related loans totaled 1.3 trillion yuan in 2009, with 421.8 billion yuan flowing to developers and 874.24 billion yuan going to individuals as mortgage loans. BOC and CCB extended 1.27 trillion yuan and 1.21 trillion yuan, respectively.

People's Bank of China, the central bank, lowered the interest rates five times in 2008 and provided a 30 percent discount for mortgages, so the banks all increased their lending to make up for the profit losses brought on by the lower interests.

A series of new tough government policies to curb housing price increases would greatly affect property-related lending, the paper said.

According to the State Council's decision released on April 15, the down payment for a family's first home with an area bigger than 90 square meters should be at least 30 percent. And for the second apartment, the required down payment was raised from 40 percent to 50 percent, and the mortgage rate should be no less than 1.1 times the benchmark interest rate. Moreover, a much higher down payment and mortgage rate will be required for third homes and above.

Analysts said the higher interest rate would, to some extent, supplement the losses from shrinking lending, but the banks' income from personal mortgage interests would still decline, the newspaper said.