What has been adjusted? How is the landing situation?, After the Politburo meeting, many places introduced new policies on housing loans | policies | new policies
Since the Politburo meeting on July 24th proposed a new approach to real estate, the market has seen an increase in expectations for policy adjustments in the real estate market, including adjustments to existing mortgage interest rates, further reductions in down payment ratios and loan interest rates for first-time home purchases, and the practice of "recognizing a house without recognizing a loan".
After the Politburo meeting, especially after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development clarified its policy direction and deployment, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jilin, Anhui and other places have actively expressed their support and satisfaction for the rigid and improved housing needs of residents. In contrast, key cities in Henan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and other regions have introduced more targeted new policies, which have led to higher expectations for their implementation.
From the perspective of policy direction, stimulus policies on the demand side in various regions are concentrated on housing purchase subsidies, deed tax subsidies, and sales of existing houses. In terms of finance, many have proposed support for "recognizing houses but not loans", "transferring second-hand houses with collateral", and increasing support for housing provident fund. Although there have been some individual mentions of the expected adjustment of interest rates for existing housing loans in the market, according to multiple sources, it has not yet been officially implemented. Local bank and real estate agency staff in Zhengzhou told reporters that the adjustment plan is likely to be determined within a month.
After various regions have made statements or implemented policies, the market is currently paying special attention to how to adjust and optimize real estate related policies in first tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
The adjustment of interest rates for existing housing loans has not yet been implemented
Since last year, new policies have been continuously implemented in various real estate markets. After the Politburo meeting on July 24th, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development made a clear statement for the first time on July 27th to further implement policy measures such as reducing the down payment ratio and loan interest rate for purchasing the first home, improving tax and fee reductions for purchasing affordable housing, and providing personal housing loans without the need to subscribe. In addition, with the central bank's statement in mid July supporting the adjustment of interest rates on existing housing loans, the market generally expects a deeper level of real estate policy adjustment, with a focus on first tier cities and core second tier cities.
After cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have successively expressed support and met the rigid and improved housing needs of residents, Zhengzhou has fired the first shot in a new round of real estate policy optimization. On August 3rd, the Housing Security and Real Estate Administration of Zhengzhou City issued 15 new policies on the real estate market, becoming the first city to explicitly mention the adjustment of interest rates on existing housing loans after the central bank's statement.
Zhengzhou Real Estate Bureau mentioned that it encourages commercial banks in Zhengzhou to adjust the interest rates of existing personal housing loans in an orderly manner in accordance with the law, guide the downward trend of interest rates and down payment ratios of personal housing loans, and stabilize consumer expectations. In terms of implementing responsible units, the document lists the Municipal Financial Bureau and the people's governments of various development zones, districts and counties.
On August 7th, the General Office of the Henan Provincial Government reiterated in its "Several Policy Measures for Continuously Expanding Consumption" that it will implement a dynamic adjustment long-term mechanism for the interest rate of commercial personal housing loans for newly issued first homes. For eligible cities, the lower limit of interest rates for commercial personal housing loans for first homes will be gradually relaxed. However, the proposal to adjust the interest rates of existing housing loans has disappointed the industry - "Banking and financial institutions should adjust the interest rates of existing housing loans in a timely manner on the interest rate repricing date in accordance with the clearly defined interest rate repricing cycle and adjustment method in the loan contract."
The adjustment method of interest rates on existing housing loans mentioned in the Measures is only the conventional adjustment method of linking housing loans to LPR after the LPR reform. According to the analysis of the China Index Research Institute, there is a difference between the adjustment method of interest rates for existing housing loans mentioned in the document and the interest rate floating point reduction that homebuyers are concerned about. However, considering that Zhengzhou has previously proposed to encourage commercial banks to adjust the interest rates of existing housing loans, it is expected that the promotion will still follow the principle of "legal and orderly". When the policy will be implemented, attention should be paid to the follow-up actions of commercial banks.
However, according to multiple sources learned by reporters in recent days, local banks in Zhengzhou have not yet come up with a specific plan for adjusting the interest rates of existing housing loans, including state-owned banks, joint-stock banks, and local urban/rural commercial banks. Staff generally stated that there was "no notification" and "waiting for notification".
However, a loan manager at a branch of Zhengzhou Bank told reporters that there are expected to be adjustments in the near future, and it is said that "there is a requirement to implement it within a month.". Another local real estate agent stated that a client manager of a certain major bank mentioned during communication with their company that they may come up with an adjustment plan within the next month, but the specific situation is uncertain.
Except for Zhengzhou, new real estate policies have been introduced in Nanjing, Hefei, and Hainan recently, but there has been no clear mention of interest rate adjustments for existing housing loans. According to the reporter's understanding, there have been no policy changes in the interest rates of existing housing loans in the above-mentioned regions. Some account managers suggest paying attention to the official news of the bank, while others suggest that if there are adjustment plans, the housing loan manager will proactively contact the borrower.
Wang Yifeng, Chief Analyst of the Financial Industry at Everbright Securities, believes that considering the significant increase in early repayment of mortgage loans since the beginning of this year, which has led to negative growth in existing mortgage loans in the first half of the year, it is objectively necessary to lower the interest rate on existing mortgage loans and improve the reading of mortgage loan growth. In this context, he believes that the reduction of interest rates on existing mortgage loans is gradually approaching.
Reducing the down payment ratio and making it easier to promote the purchase of houses but not loans
From the latest optimization policies, the wording of financial support in various regions is still cautious, mainly focusing on promoting "house recognition but not loan recognition", supporting "mortgage transfer" of second-hand houses, promoting sales of existing houses, and increasing support for housing provident fund. Some policies are aimed at reiterating and continuing to be implemented, while others are aimed at expanding the breadth or depth of implementation on the basis of previous policies.
For example, Henan's "Measures" require that the standards for identifying second homes be improved. For cities that have not implemented purchase restriction measures, families who own one house and have already paid off the corresponding purchase loan, and those who apply for a loan to purchase ordinary commercial housing again to improve their living conditions, banking and financial institutions shall implement the first home loan policy. Simply put, it means "accepting loans but not houses" in non restricted purchase cities.
Among them, Zhengzhou has emphasized the implementation of "recognizing houses but not loans" on August 4th, and is also the first city to make a clear statement after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development issued a statement. Cao Jingjing, General Manager of the Index Research Department of China Index Research Institute, told reporters that the city's previous implementation of "only recognizing loans but not recognizing houses" has been relatively lenient. That is, when there is no house under the name but the house loan is not settled, banks will issue housing mortgage loans according to the standard for second homes, and when there is a house under the name but the loan is settled, it will be based on the standard for first homes.
In addition to Zhengzhou, the People's Government of Ganzhou City in Jiangxi Province also issued a document on August 4th, which mentioned continuing to implement the loan down payment ratio according to the lower limit. It is explicitly stated that for families who own a house and have already paid off their purchase loan, the first home loan policy will continue to be implemented.
According to the analysis of Beike Research Institute, past experience has shown that "buying a house and buying a loan" often not only suppresses transactions but also affects housing prices. Cancelling relevant policies can enable this group of homebuyers to obtain loans according to the standard for first home purchases, release more demand for improved home exchange, reduce down payment ratios and mortgage interest rates for homebuyers, and promote linkage between primary and secondary markets, accelerating market cycles.
Increased support for housing provident fund
Another policy direction that the market is looking forward to is a further reduction in the down payment ratio. Compared to pure commercial loans, the adjustment progress of provident fund loans in various regions is significantly faster.
On the same day as the release of the "15 Measures" in the Zhengzhou real estate market, the local housing provident fund center announced that starting from August 7th this year, when using housing provident fund loans to purchase a family's first or improved housing within the administrative area of Zhengzhou, the minimum down payment ratio for newly built commercial housing is 20%, and for existing commercial housing, the minimum down payment ratio is 30%.
Except for adjusting the down payment ratio, cities such as Nanchang and Ganzhou in Jiangxi have expanded the scope of cross regional recognition of provident fund loans. On August 7th, the Nanchang Housing Provident Fund Management Center announced that starting from August 15th, on the basis of handling inter regional mutual recognition and loan business in the "Nanchang Urban Circle", it will promote the expansion of regional scope and implement the "integration" policy of housing provident fund personal housing loans in Jiangxi Province; The relevant documents of the Ganzhou Municipal Government point out that on the basis of inter regional deposit, mutual recognition, and loan cooperation between "within the province+five cities in Hunan", we will promote cross regional cooperation with larger scale cities such as the Greater Bay Area for housing provident fund.
The transfer of second-hand houses with collateral is also seen as an important measure to activate the market. On August 7th, the Department of Natural Resources and Planning of Hainan Province, the Hainan Regulatory Bureau of the State Administration of Financial Supervision, the Housing and Construction Department of Hainan Province, and the Housing Provident Fund Management Bureau of Hainan Province jointly issued a document stating that they should work together to ensure the transfer of real estate under pressure. The Hainan Provincial Housing Provident Fund Management Bureau announced on the same day that it supports the development of second-hand housing "mortgage transfer" housing provident fund loan business.
Increase subsidy efforts and expand pilot sales of existing houses
Another direction for this round of policy optimization is the reform of the pre-sale system. Previously, with some properties being abandoned and causing a wave of loan suspensions, loopholes in the pre-sale process of commercial housing have been more exposed, and problems such as misappropriation of pre-sale funds and inadequate fund supervision have been criticized.
The Henan Measures point out that we will support Zhengzhou in carrying out the reform of the pre-sale system for commercial housing, and promote the pilot sales of existing houses in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng; The Zhengzhou Real Estate Bureau previously stated that it is steadily promoting the pilot project of "selling existing houses" for commercial housing, focusing on one pilot project each in Zhengdong New Area and Huiji District. The special meeting on real estate work held at the end of July in Hefei also proposed to boldly and prudently promote the pilot project of "sales of existing houses" for commercial housing, and focus on promoting one pilot project each in Shushan District and Baohe District.
According to the analysis of Zhongzhi Research Institute, the sales process of existing houses in various regions is expected to further accelerate, and in the future, it will effectively alleviate the concerns of homebuyers about project delivery and promote the stable and healthy development of the market.
On August 4th, the Nanjing Real Estate Bureau stated that it will optimize the management of unforeseeable expenses for pre-sale funds of commercial housing. Development enterprises can apply to gradually release the amount of unforeseeable expenses based on project progress, further improve the efficiency of enterprise fund utilization, and create a good business environment. Hefei has stated that it will strengthen the joint supervision of pre-sale funds for commercial housing through strict systems, and strictly prevent the misappropriation of funds.
Compared to exploratory adjustments in the financial sector, measures in various regions such as housing subsidies appear to be more flexible. On the basis of the previous subsidy policy, many cities in Zhengzhou, Nanjing, and Ganzhou have recently increased their housing subsidy efforts, mainly benefiting young talents and families with multiple children. The methods include directly issuing housing subsidies or providing housing deed tax subsidies. Among them, Nanjing emphasized for the first time that the new six districts can continue to implement housing subsidies, and mentioned that Qixia and Yuhuatai districts can combine the actual market situation in their jurisdiction to implement subsidies for purchasing new commercial housing after evaluation.
Among other highly anticipated new policies, the market also has high expectations for the implementation and effectiveness of policies such as exploring the pricing of commercial housing sales based on the unit area in Hefei and implementing the cancellation of floor price difference restrictions on commercial housing. In addition, Zhengzhou has made significant policy adjustments this time, with one of them being the complete lifting of sales restrictions.
In fact, since the beginning of this year, Zhengzhou has made multiple optimizations and adjustments to its real estate policies. In April, Zhengzhou adjusted its sales restriction policy to be based on online signing time, deed tax payment time, and real estate registration time. Any one of the three can be sold after one year; At the same time, policies such as the cancellation of purchase restrictions outside the Second Ring Road and the support for "transfer with collateral" and the withdrawal of provident fund for down payment have also been introduced.
Cao Jingjing believes that the lifting of the sales restriction policy in Zhengzhou will to some extent improve the liquidity of the local second-hand housing market, make housing transactions more flexible, and facilitate the release of demand for improved housing.
