Supervise real estate lending to avoid speculation: PM

As of mid-March, outstanding loans in real estate rose 2.13 percent year-on-year, higher than the overall figure of 2.04 percent for the economy.

State Bank Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said that the bank has used some tools to control credit risks in the real estate sector, including reducing the ratio of short-term loans being used for mid- and long-term loans and applying a high risk adjustment coefficient to such loans.

The state bank has been asking commercial banks to focus lending on manufacturing as per the government’s direction, she said.

Experts have been warning of speculators pushing up real estate prices by spreading rumors about development plans in some places like Hanoi, Ha Long Town and Bac Ninh Province.

Land prices in many places have risen by an average of 10 percent in the last two months, and in some places they have even doubled or tripled, according to the Vietnam Association of Realtors.

Official say that reasons for the surging capital inflow into the real estate and stock markets is low deposit interest rates and poor land administration and planning.