China's government measures to cool off the overheating real estate market have prompted urban Chinese to reconsider plans to buy a home, according to a survey published Tuesday by the central bank, the People's Bank of China.

The survey, which covered bank depositors in 50 small, medium and big cities throughout the country in May, said that only 19.1 percent of the respondents, a record low, plan to purchase houses in the coming three months, down 2.9 percent from the first quarter, or down 2.2 percent compared with the same period of last year.

Meanwhile, only 11 percent of the respondents, also a record low, deposited money for buying or furnishing houses, down 0.4 percent from the first quarter.

The bank attributed the change to the series of policies aimed at cooling off the housing market adopted recently by the state and seven governmental departments.

However, the survey said that the respondents in seven big cities have displayed different reactions to the state policies.

The number of Shanghai residents who plan to buy houses in the next three months dropped by 12 percent, while those in Chongqing, Xi'an, Wuhan and Tianjin declined by 3.7, 3.3, 2.2 and 0.8 percentage points respectively.

But in Beijing and Guangzhou, people who want to buy houses rose 2.2 and 0.7 percent.

The real estate market is one of the most sensitive and controversial sectors in China. Residents of big cities are concerned about housing prices, which have been rising continuously since China phased out free, government-provided housing in the early 1990s.

Last year, the country's average housing price rose by 14.4 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

After seven government departments issued last month a new policy to control China's rocketing housing prices, some statistics showed that the price level in major metropolises decreased, but other statistics indicated no obvious changes.

Source: Xinhua