On the same day, the People's Bank of China and the Insurance Regulatory Commission of the Bank of China issued a notice saying that the lower limit of the interest rate of the first set of commercial personal housing loans will be adjusted to not less than the quoted interest rate (LPR) of the loan market in the same period minus 20 basis points, and the lower limit of the interest rate policy of the second set of commercial personal housing loans will be implemented according to the current regulations.
The picture is taken from the website of China People's Bank.
Previously, the lower limit of interest rate implemented at the national level was that the interest rate of the first home loan should not be lower than the LPR of the same period, and the interest rate of the second home loan should not be lower than the LPR plus 60 basis points. After the policy adjustment, according to the LPR for more than five years released on April 20th, the interest rate of the first home loan shall not be lower than 4.4%.
The reporter learned that this policy adjustment is mainly aimed at newly issued commercial personal housing loans, and the interest rate of existing commercial personal housing loans is still implemented according to the original contract.
In other words, if the lower limit of the same city policy and the specific implementation interest rate of the bank are lowered simultaneously with the national policy, the interest expenses of households applying for loans to purchase the first set of ordinary self-occupied housing will be reduced.
The regional characteristics of China's real estate market are obvious. The interest rate and down payment ratio of individual housing loans are determined according to the principle of city-specific policies, and the pricing mechanism of the whole country, cities and banks is adopted. However, in practice, most cities have directly adopted the national policy lower limit, and there are no additional requirements.
After the lower limit of national policy is adjusted, will local policies be adjusted simultaneously?
In fact, since March, due to the weakening market demand, the mortgage interest rate has undergone a wave of adjustment, mainly at the bank level.
Zou Lan, director of the Financial Markets Department of the People's Bank of China, said that banks in more than 0/00 cities across the country have independently lowered their mortgage interest rates according to market changes and their own operating conditions, with an average range of 20 to 60 basis points. At the same time, some provincial market interest rate pricing self-discipline mechanisms also meet the regulatory requirements of local governments. According to the actual situation of this Municipality, the lower limit of the down payment ratio and the lower limit of the interest rate in this Municipality shall be lowered within the scope of national policies.
"This is a differentiated and market-oriented adjustment made by the city government and banks according to market conditions and their own business strategies, which adapts to the characteristics of regional differences in the real estate market." Zou Wei said.
Relevant data show that the sales of commercial housing have declined at present, and the amount of personal housing loans has also declined slightly. The latest financial statistics show that household loans decreased by 21700 million yuan in April. Among them, housing loans decreased by 60.5 billion yuan.
The notice clearly stated that, on the basis of unifying the lower limit of the loan interest rate nationwide, the agencies of the People's Bank of China and the Bank of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred to as China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission) should guide the self-discipline mechanism of interest rate pricing in the provincial market in accordance with the principle of "taking measures according to the city", and independently determine the lower limit of the first and second sets of commercial personal housing loan interest rates in cities under their jurisdiction according to the changes in the real estate market situation and the requirements of the city government's regulation and control.
Experts believe that on the basis of the lower limit of urban loan interest rate, the next step is for banking financial institutions to reasonably determine the specific value of each loan in combination with their own operating conditions, customer risk conditions and credit conditions.
According to the People's Bank of China, the purpose of adjusting the mortgage policy is to adhere to the position that houses are used for living, not for speculation, fully implement the long-term real estate mechanism, support local governments to improve their real estate policies according to local conditions, support rigid and improved housing demand, and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.