Personal housing loans in Shanghai reach new high

Residential mortgage loans increased 5.67 billion yuan ($35.33 million) in January in Shanghai, the highest monthly gain in the past two years, data from the central bank's Shanghai headquarter showed.

As of the end of January, the balance of yuan-denominated and foreign currency-denominated deposits totaled 6.3 trillion yuan, 45.3 billion yuan less than the beginning of the year, the Shanghai head office of the People's Bank of China, or the central bank, said on Monday.

In January, deposits in Chinese commercial banks decreased 84 billion yuan year-on-year, while those of overseas commercial banks declined 11.4 billion yuan.

The change features a seasonal drop in yuan-denominated deposits and corporate short-term deposits, as well as a rise in personal savings.

The report by the Shanghai headquarters also noted that there was a significant rise in the city's residential mortgage loans. In January, Shanghai's personal loans increased 6.77 billion yuan, and 5.67 billion yuan of them were contributed by housing loans.