In the second half of August 2009, the PBC conducted a survey on urban depositors in 50 large, medium and small-sized cities across the country. The survey findings are as follows:
1. The income sentiment index rebounds for the first time in the past two years
In the third quarter, urban residents sentiment index for current income registered 49.0%, up 3.1 percentage points quarter on quarter, the first rebound since the second half of 2007. With regard to next quarter s income, the future income confidence index posted 54.7%, 2.6 percentage points higher than the previous quarter but still lower than the 58.9% recorded in the first quarter of the year.
2. The employment situation improves slightly
In the third quarter, 41.0% of respondents thought that the current employment situation was grim and that finding a job was difficult, representing a large share still though falling 4.4 percentage points quarter on quarter. Those who thought favorably of the employment situation accounted for 9.1%, up 1.4 percentage points quarter on quarter. Employment expectations for the next quarter continued to improve, with the employment expectations index rising 2.7 percentage points from the second quarter to 50.9%.
3. Price satisfaction continues to decline
44.6% of respondents considered current prices "too high to be accepted", up 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter. 51.8% of respondents thought that prices were "acceptable", down 1.4 percentage points quarter on quarter. 3.6% reported "satisfactory", almost the same as the previous quarter. As a result, the price satisfaction index for the third quarter stood at 29.5%, dipping a mere 0.6 percentage points quarter on quarter.
4. Investment sentiment surges continuously, consumption sentiment slightly rises and preference for bank deposits drops
According to the survey, in making expenditure plans, 43.1% of respondents chose "more savings deposits", falling 3.9 percentage points from 47.0%, the historical high reached in the previous quarter. 15.3% preferred "more consumption", rising slightly by 0.2 percentage points quarter on quarter though still lingering at the bottom level. As much as 41.6% of respondents chose "more investment", surging three quarters in a row with a cumulative rise of 12.5 percentage points.
5. Home purchase sentiment continues to rise while home price satisfaction falls
According to the survey, 65.2% of respondents considered current home prices "too high to be accepted", up 2.8 percentage points quarter on quarter. Only 34.8% of respondents viewed current home prices as acceptable or satisfactory. Respondents who expected home prices to rise in the next quarter occupied 41.5%, expanding by a dramatic 16.2 percentage points quarter on quarter.
Both home purchase sentiment and car purchase sentiment continued to rise in the third quarter. Respondents who expected to buy homes or cars in the next three months took up 17.1% and 12.8% respectively, up 1.3 and 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter.
