SHANGHAI'S new home loans rose in January as buyers rushed to close deals at the end of 2010 on fears of further tightening, the Chinese central bank said yesterday.

Banks in Shanghai extended 5.7 billion yuan (US$864 million) in mortgages last month, up 4.6 billion yuan from December, the Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China said in an e-mail statement yesterday. But the amount in January was lower than the 21 billion yuan in mortgages extended a year ago.

"Home buyers rushed to 'catch the last bus' as they were afraid of further tightening measures," said the central bank. "The supply of new homes in December also boosted home buying and mortgages."

It normally takes a month for banks to extend home loans following the signing of a home purchase contract and the sales boom in December led to a mortgage rise in January.

Speculation of a new property tax also helped to lift home transactions in December. The tax, officially announced in Shanghai in late January, will be imposed on residential properties purchased since January 28 by families who already have one or more homes. They will have to pay a rate of either 0.6 percent or 0.4 percent depending on the price of the home. Home transactions have tumbled since the tax was launched.

Mortgages may also slow this month as banks have tightened credit approval in January, market watchers said.

"Transactions were really flat these days," complained Zhang Xiaohu, a real estate agent.

Sales of new homes, excluding those built under the city's affordable housing program, tumbled 25 percent in January from a month earlier to 1.05 million square meters, said Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co.