The Housing Finance Association expects growth in new home loans this year to slow to 8%, down from 9.2% last year, because of rising interest rates and cessation of tax incentives. HFA secretary-general Chartchai Payuhanaveechai said yesterday that financial houses had estimated that new home loans in 2010 would record impressive growth of 11-13% thanks to housing-tax schemes. However, when those schemes were ended, new loans increased by only 9.2% to Bt370b, which caused total outstanding loans to grow to Bt187t. (The Nation)
