Beijing's property stimulus measures fail to impress banks

Shanghai

AS stock market investors cheer China's latest bid to boost an ailing housing sector, bankers are gritting their teeth over the risks they face in further relaxing rules on lending to home buyers.

Alarmed by persistent weakness in the property market and its increasing drag on the economy, policymakers said on Monday they were cutting downpayment levels for the second time in six months and offering bigger tax breaks. The hope is that by making it easier for buyers to get mortgages, China can revive the housing market, which accounts for 15 per cent of its economy, and where prices are falling at a record pace.