Economic Daily Jin Guanping: Optimizing Housing Loan Policies to Benefit People's Livelihood and Stabilize Expectations
The adjustment and optimization of housing credit policies have been put into practice. The People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Financial Supervision recently issued a notice to guide the actual down payment ratio and interest rate of personal housing loans to decrease, better meeting the rigid and improved housing needs of residents. In the past two years, financial policy support for real estate has been running a relay race and playing a combination punch, releasing positive signals of benefiting people's livelihoods and stabilizing expectations.
Reducing the down payment ratio is beneficial for lowering the threshold for purchasing a house. The minimum down payment ratio for the first and second homes has been almost lowered to the lowest level in history, highlighting the breadth and magnitude of the policy's benefits. Especially for the demand for improved housing in first and second tier cities, the down payment ratio for second homes is relatively high, with some places as high as 60%. With significant changes in the current supply and demand relationship in the real estate market, policy adjustments are a scientific and timely measure.
The downward trend of mortgage interest rates is beneficial for saving purchase costs. The lower limit of the second housing interest rate policy was originally the loan market quoted rate plus 60 basis points, but this time it has been adjusted to LPR plus 20 basis points. This move can save a significant amount of interest expenses, which is beneficial for reducing the pressure on household mortgage loans and boosting expectations and confidence in the real estate market. Some cities with high pressure to adjust housing prices can also use the dynamic adjustment mechanism of the first home loan interest rate policy to lower the mortgage interest rate by lowering the bonus points, thereby reducing the cost of purchasing a house.
After adjusting the interest rates of existing housing loans, it also helps to increase residents' willingness to consume and their ability to turn over funds. According to calculations, the financial burden of tens of millions of households and billions of residents will significantly decrease, with an average decrease of about 0.8 percentage points. Taking a stock mortgage of 1 million yuan, with a 25 year term and a original interest rate of 5.1% as an example, assuming the mortgage interest rate drops to 4.3%, it can save borrowers interest expenses of over 5000 yuan per year.
The housing issue is not only related to economic and social development, but also to the happy life of millions of families. This credit policy adjustment touches on two core issues that homebuyers are concerned about: the threshold for purchasing a house and the cost of purchasing a house, which are substantial benefits for people's livelihoods. After decades of rapid development, China's real estate market as a whole has gone through a stage of oversupply, and the contradiction of housing shortage has gradually been resolved; Adhering to the positioning of "housing for living, not for speculation", the deep logic of high debt, high leverage, and high turnover real estate development and operation that has formed in the past is changing; The real estate market is also shifting from a focus on increment to a focus on stock, moving from "presence" to "quality".
Change according to the times and move according to the situation. It should be noted that the recent series of real estate policies have released clear policy signals, but they will still be promoted in an orderly manner following the principle of marketization, which does not mean the arrival of a new round of stimulus. The tone of "implementing policies according to the city" has not changed. At the practical implementation level, due to the involvement of multiple complex factors, it is still necessary for various regions and financial institutions to refine according to the actual situation. Next, the financial management department should closely monitor market dynamics, maintain a good market competition order, promote the healthy and stable development of the real estate market, and enable the people to live and work better.
Source/Economic Daily