Banks raise housing loan requirements
22/4/2003 16:32
A Shanghai resident surnamed Xu was hoping to finance 80 percent of
his housing purchase with a mortgage, but the bank would only offer him 70
percent.
Xu is not alone.
It is hard for local home buyers to get
mortgage loans covering 80 percent of the purchase price, as local banks have
raised their housing loan requirements, said an industry analyst.
Banks,
however, take a slightly different perspective.
"We are not raising loan
requirements, but are conducting stricter examinations of home buyers,"
according to several local banks.
Banks are more willing to extend loans
to people buying high-end properties, according to several local
banks.
Up to 88 percent of housing purchase prices in the first half of
last year was covered by loans from banks, according to the Shanghai Branch of
the People's Bank of China (PBOC).
The monthly increase of housing loans
in January, February and March this year reached 5.87 billion yuan (US$700
million), 2.23 billion yuan and 4.4 billion yuan respectively, according to the
local branch of the PBOC.
Growing risks in the real estate market are
cited as a main reason the banks are raising loan requirements for home buyers,
the analyst said.
Up to one-fourth of mortgage holders have failed to
make a payment on time at least once, according to the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
|
