Survey statistics show that only 14.1 percent of Chinese residents are planning to buy a house in the upcoming quarter, a record low since 1999, China News Service reported on Monday.

An overwhelming 67.7 percent of residents considered the current housing price too swollen and "too high to be acceptable", according to the first quarter survey report on depositors issued by the People's Bank of China, which tracked 20,000 domestic households in 50 cities.

Only 9.4 percent of those surveyed in Beijing and Shanghai have the intention to buy an apartment?in the next three months.

Among all surveyed, a mere 17.7 percent expected rising housing prices in the second half of 2012, a three-year low, whereas another 19.7 percent predicted it to slump.

Potential investment in the real estate market has dropped by 10 percentage points year-on-year as confidence in the industry wanes in the cooling economic climate, making the property market least-favored among the major investment channels.

The report shows only 13.7 percent of residents with a 50,000-yuan-plus monthly income are willing to invest in the property market in the next three months.