MUMBAI: It’s not just RBI, but International Monetary Fund (IMF) and central banks across Asia too are concerned over the spiralling property prices and the possible impact on the banks’ books.

In its regional economic outlook for Asia-Pacific, IMF has warned that although rising home loans portfolio appears to be manageable, if home loans continue to grow at the current pace, it may pose challenge to the banks as well as the regulator. It has cited the recent crisis in the US sub-prime market and warned that financial sector woes triggered by housing can spread faster across the economy than expected.

In the 12 economies IMF studied, housing price increase has averaged 4.5% during 2002-06. Only three countries — China, India and New Zealand — experienced real annual price rise of more than 8% during the period.

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Courtesy:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Skyrocketing_real_estate_prices_strain_Asian_banks/RssArticleShow/articleshow/2078385.cms