Housing developers offer shares as collateral to secure lending

Listed property developers are putting up shares in their own companies as collateral to lenders as persistent tightening measures have left them with few means of raising money.

China.com.cn, a news portal, found that 58 A-share developers had put up 11.6 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) worth of shares as collateral by last Thursday.

Xinhu Zhongbao Co Ltd, for example, saw its majority shareholder offered its shares as collateral 21 times, leading to offers of 1.58 billion yuan worth of shares.

Information about 175 of those offers has been made public. Of those, lenders have taken 50, indicating that property-related risks remain in the banking system even though the government has ordered banks not to lend to developers. Most of the remaining offers were scooped up by trust companies, which have strong ties with lenders in China.

Last year, the China Banking Regulatory Commission clamped down on lenders' practice of making off-balance sheet loans in collaboration with trust companies.

Many Week, a Chinese business magazine, reported that 33 real estate trust plans have been liquidated ahead of schedule this year. Industry insiders say that is a sign that trust companies are putting pressure on cash-stripped developers.

In May, Beijing Homyear Real Estate Co Ltd, a listed developer, entered into debt restructuring after failing to pay 1 billion yuan owed in a trust plan.

The stricter policies imposed on developers aren't likely to be loosened in the near future. This month, various government agencies repeatedly said their policies toward the property market won't change.

Most recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said it will "unswervingly" enforce all of its policies concerning the property market, especially policies on differentiated mortgage rates, taxation and purchase restrictions.

Peng Wensheng, chief economist of the investment banking and research company China International Capital Corp Ltd, said the growth rate for Chinese real estate investment could be 13 percent by 2012, less than half of the 27.9 percent in 2011.

But recent data showed that home prices may be bottoming out as the central bank lowers benchmark interest rates and local governments look for ways to circumvent property restrictions.

gaochangxin@chinadaily.com.cn