67% choose to use public housing funds for home loans

BEIJING - The main uses of public housing funds are for home loans, downpayments, rent and renovations, according to a survey in Tuesday's China Youth Daily.

Among the 2,025 interviewees, 67.4 percent said they would choose to use their public housing funds for home loans.

The public housing fund is a long-term housing savings plan made up of compulsory monthly deposits by both employers and employees. It can only be used by employees on house-related expenses and, if unused, is returned to them when they retire or stop working.

Hu Yabing, who works in the construction industry in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, said that, due to the complicated process to withdraw the funds, not many people he knows have used them to purchase a house, and most would apply for commercial loans.

To encourage more people to use the funds, the central government recently issued a circular on public housing funds to simplify the application and withdrawal procedures.

The survey also showed that 56.1 percent of respondents hoped to extend the loan maturity.

Housing prices remained largely stable in major Chinese cities amid tough government purchase restrictions.