Being told by the bank to "come back next year", many cities across the country are experiencing "mortgage difficulties"

Recently, there have been constant voices of tightening of housing loans in many places. In some places, second-hand housing loan applications are even "scheduled until next year."

Among the 30 key cities monitored by CRIC, more than half of the cities have tight loan quotas for new homes, and the loan cycle continues to lengthen compared with the first half of the year. Mortgage interest rates in more than 70% of the cities have been adjusted to varying degrees compared with the first half of the year. ; In terms of second-hand housing loans, the loan cycle in the 23 cities surveyed is basically 3-6 months, and more than 60% of the cities have almost "stopped lending."

Zhang Bo, dean of the 58 Anju Guest House Real Estate Research Branch, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that the current tightening of mortgage loans in many places is affected by two factors: "two red lines for mortgage loans" and "the continued rise in property market transactions." . Whether housing loans will be relaxed in the future depends on changes in market volume.

Mortgage loan quotas in many places are tight and lending cycles are extended

In recent months, it is an indisputable fact that banks in many places have tight mortgage quotas and slow lending. Especially in first-tier cities, real estate loans are very tight.

"Daily Economic News" reporters learned from major commercial banks in Shanghai that although loans have not stopped, the approval and loan cycle has been significantly lengthened, ranging from three months to half a year. Moreover, starting from July 24, the interest rate for first-home loans in Shanghai was adjusted from 4.65 to 5, and the interest rate for second-home loans was raised from 5.25 to 5.7.

According to previous CCTV financial reports, some home buyers in Beijing were told that "the loan limit is tight" when applying for a mortgage, and the specific loan time is uncertain. Some people were even told by the bank to "come back next year."

It is understood that Guangzhou Commercial Bank has also recently raised mortgage interest rates. According to the latest LPR quotation, the current mainstream first and second home loan interest rates in Guangzhou are above 5.85 and above 6.05 respectively, which are much higher than other first-tier cities. At the same time, the loan period is extended. Some banks in Guangzhou take about 3-4 months from online signing to loan disbursement.

The mortgage situation in popular second- and third-tier cities is not easy either. According to data from the Shell Research Institute, judging from the lending cycle in June this year, 46 of the 72 key cities have extended the mortgage lending cycle.

"Daily Economic News" reporters noticed that recently, second-hand housing sales have been suspended in Hangzhou, Wuhan, Changchun, Zhengzhou, Kunming, Nanning, Hefei, Chongqing, Dongguan, Huizhou, Foshan, Changsha, Jinan and other cities. Loans have been suspended or partially suspended, and mortgage interest rates have been raised multiple times in many cities.

According to the reporter’s understanding, the interest rate for first home loans in Suzhou has risen to 5.9-6.0, and the interest rates for second homes (loans not yet settled) have mostly exceeded 6, and many banks have credit requirements in their lending conditions. Very harsh.

Nanjing’s first-home loan interest rate has reached 5.95, approaching the 6 mark, and the highest second-home loan interest rate has reached 6.15. It was revealed that local banks such as ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Hua Xia and others have stopped lending for first-time home owners due to tight quotas. "In Nanjing and Hefei, the queue to apply for a mortgage has reached six months, and many banks are still unable to determine the lending cycle." A banker staff told reporters.

The credit situation of 30 hot second- and third-tier cities surveyed by CRIC shows that most cities have not yet felt the impact of credit relaxation, and the backlog of loan applications in the early stage have not been centrally disbursed.

In addition, overall mortgage interest rates continue to trend upward. According to CRIC research data, in September this year, the national average mortgage interest rate for first-home loans was 5.46, an increase of 23BP from the end of 2020, and the average interest rate for second-home loans was 5.83, an increase of 29BP from the end of 2020. The first-time home loan interest rate in Suzhou, Quzhou, Taicang, Xinyang, Zhumadian, Nanning, Guilin and other places has reached over 6, and the lending cycle in more than half of the cities has been extended to varying degrees compared with the first half of the year.

At the same time, the overall review of housing loans has become more stringent. For example, in Nanning, Taizhou, Lishui and other places, when buying a house, strict review of customer qualifications is required, including the source of down payment funds, personal repayment ability and many other aspects.

Generally speaking, the current loan cycle of 3-6 months has become the norm. For example, the loan cycle in Linyi, Jining, Heze and other places in Shandong is as long as more than half a year; the credit terminals in Suzhou, Taizhou, Yancheng and other places have Tightening across the board, loan release time is uncertain.

As the property market transaction volume declines, may housing loans be relaxed?

The rapid increase in sales of commercial housing is also an important reason for the tight mortgage quotas of banks in various places. Zhang Bo told the "Daily Economic News" reporter, "Although the property market transactions were declining in July and August, due to the centralized supply, the transaction volume of new homes in the first half of this year was very large."

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows In the first half of this year, the sales area of ??commercial housing nationwide was 890 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 27.7%; the sales volume of commercial housing was 9.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.9%. In terms of second-hand houses, according to data from the Shell Research Institute, the transaction volume of the second-hand house market in the first half of the year increased by 12% compared with the second half of last year, and the transaction volume of new houses hit the highest level in the same period since 2016.

The "Financial Statistics Report for the First Half of 2021" released by the central bank shows that RMB loans increased by 12.76 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of 667.7 billion yuan year-on-year. Among them, loans to the household sector increased by 4.58 trillion yuan. In particular, medium- and long-term loans to the household sector, which can basically be regarded as housing loans, increased by 3.43 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.5% compared with the first half of last year.

It is worth noting that in the first half of the year, new medium- and long-term loans to the household sector accounted for approximately 26.9% of the total new RMB loans, an increase of approximately 3.7 percentage points compared with the same period in 2020. In other words, the mortgage ratio of 26.9 far exceeds the "two red lines" of the 17.5 mortgage ratio limit for small banks, and even greatly exceeds the 20 mortgage ratio limit for medium-sized banks.

On September 10, China Merchants Bank responded to investors "the reason why the loan cannot be decentralized due to the tightening of second-hand housing loan quota this time". Since the beginning of the year, in order to further implement the policy of housing for living, not for speculation, no Few cities where real estate is booming have further intensified policy controls such as real estate purchase restrictions and loan restrictions. At the same time, affected by the concentration of real estate loans by regulatory authorities, most banks have appropriately tightened their efforts in real estate loans, but overall they are still able to meet the home purchase credit needs of people who are in urgent need.

Although there is recent market news that "monetary policy will shift towards easing credit in the second half of the year and encourage banks to increase credit supply," CRIC research results show that so far, banks in many places have not increased loan supply. Quota.

“In the second half of the year, the transaction volume in some cities may decline, and the lending volume may be relaxed to a certain extent. Priority will be given to ensuring the lending of first-hand housing loans, and the issuance rhythm will be relatively stable.” Zhang Bo said.