Chinese banks' property loan growth slows to 20% in 2018

About $3.82t went to individual purchasers.

The property loan arms of Chinese banks slowed by 0.9 ppt to 20% in 2018 as the government's curbs continued to weigh in on the real estate sector, according to Xinhua citing data from the People’s Bank of China. 

Outstanding loans to the sector hit $5.7t (CNY38.7t) in the same year. Of the total loans, $3.82t (CNY25.75t) went to individual purchasers, which represents an increase of 17.8%, still 4.4 ppt lower compared to the growth in 2017.

Beijing imposed curbs on the property sector in 2017 in a bid to prevent asset bubbles and safeguard the country from economic risks. Moreover, the unrelenting deleveraging campaign has also contributed to dragging sales volume amidst tighter bank financing for homebuyers. 

Banks have also become more selective in extending mortgage loans to homebuyers amidst a bias for first-time buyers, according to a report from Moody's Investors Research, adding that the time it takes to process and disburse a loan has also been extended compared with last year.

Also read: Chinese banks face risk from surging bad loans in real estate

Meanwhile, inclusive and green financing saw rising growth with banks encouraged to lend more support to the real economy. According to data from the central bank, outstanding loans in the inclusive financing area rose 13.8% YoY to $1.99t (CNY13.39t) as of end 2018, up 5.3 ppt from 2017.

Separately, outstanding green loans in yuan and foreign currencies grew 16% YoY to 8.23t (CNY1.22t).