On January 29 and 30, the Shanghai Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau and the Beijing Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau successively issued documents to further strengthen the management of personal housing credit, and strictly investigate the illegal flow of personal credit funds such as consumer loans and business loans into the real estate market.
In the previous week or so, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and other hot cities have also started a new round of real estate regulation.
"Economic Information Daily" reporter interviewed and learned that the current bank mortgage lending cycle and interest rate hikes in some areas have been extended, but large-scale loan suspensions do not exist.
Analysts believe that by adhering to the positioning of "housing to live without speculation", banks are more stringent in reviewing the qualifications of housing loans in the context of the "red line of housing loans" and stricter regulatory policies. The overall trend of personal housing loans in 2021 will be tight, and residents' house purchase leverage Or it will stabilize and decline.
Credit funds flowed into the property market in violation of regulations
Be scrutinized again
On January 30, the Beijing Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau issued a document stating that it has issued a regulatory reminder letter to banking institutions within its jurisdiction, requiring banks to conduct comprehensive self-regulation on the compliance of newly issued personal consumption loans and personal business loans since the second half of 2020. Check whether there are problems such as improper credit approval, inadequate management of entrusted payment, inadequate management of post-loan, etc., resulting in consumer loans and operating loan funds being used to pay for house purchases in violation of regulations, and require banks to immediately respond to the problems found Rectify and strengthen internal accountability.
At the same time, the Beijing Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau also stated that it has established a joint working group with the Business Management Department of the People's Bank of China, Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments, and will go to banking institutions to conduct special inspections in the near future.
In addition, it will also guide the Beijing Banking Association to take active actions in conjunction with bank self-inspection and supervision and verification, and initiate a joint disciplinary mechanism for improper and irregular actions by individuals and intermediaries.
On the day before the announcement in Beijing, the Shanghai Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau also issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Personal Housing Credit", stating that it will strictly implement differentiated housing credit policies and strictly review the minimum down payment ratio and debt service income ratio of personal housing loans. , Loan limit and other requirements.
The "Notice" pointed out that the monitoring and interception mechanism for the use of credit funds should be improved.
Strengthen the verification requirements for the authenticity of down payment funds to prevent borrowers from illegally obtaining personal housing loan down payment funds through consumer loans, business loans and other channels, or obtain bank loans by forging down payment vouchers.
Judging from the latest measures announced by Beijing and Shanghai, consumer loans and business loans have become areas of focus for enhanced supervision. This is also a response to the recent emergence of "some house buyers who have embezzled consumer loans and business loans to fill gaps in housing transaction funds or carry out arbitrage." Funds are used as a response to public opinion such as house purchases or'bridge' funds.
Yan Yuejin, research director of the Think Tank Center of E-House Research Institute, said that from the perspective of capital entry, the inflow of various consumer loans and operating loans will face control.
From the perspective of the outflow and use of funds, it is clear that loans with "no use, false use, and doubtful use" are managed and controlled to prevent such loans with unclear uses.
Lengthened mortgage lending cycle in some areas
No large-scale loan suspension
In the context of the upgrading of real estate regulation and control in many places, some media reported that bank mortgage quotas have been tightened, interest rates have risen, and bank loan cycles have lengthened and even stopped lending in many places.
What are the facts?
"Economic Information Daily" reporter learned that the so-called large-scale loan suspension does not exist.
In the Shanghai area, both the Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank and the Shanghai Branch of ICBC stated that they are currently in an orderly way with housing loans, and there has been no so-called suspension of loans.
In the Guangzhou area, the relevant person in charge of the Guangzhou branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China responded that the current housing loan quota in the Guangzhou area is relatively tight, and housing loan business is still accepted normally.
The Guangzhou Branch of China Merchants Bank responded that currently, the Guangzhou Branch of China Merchants Bank has not stopped its mortgage business and is still receiving orders and lending every month.
In the Shenzhen area, reporters conducted interviews with banks in a number of jurisdictions for verification. According to the interviews, the major banks in Shenzhen have not stopped lending their mortgages and are still acquiring orders normally.
The reporter learned from banks and real estate intermediaries in Hangzhou, Hefei, Chengdu and other places that there is uncertainty in the lending cycle of banks and may need to queue up, but loans can be issued normally after approval.
But in some areas, the mortgage lending cycle extension does exist.
A real estate agency in Shanghai told reporters that bank lending is currently slow and the cycle is longer than before, and it will take at least one and a half months to lend.
A branch president in Shanghai said, “Recently, the real estate market in Shanghai has been very hot, and the increase in demand has caused the bank’s loan cycle to become longer. Specifically, each branch will give priority to the cooperative real estate.” Guangzhou area, according to an intermediary in Guangzhou According to the person in charge of the agency, in July 2020, the loan can be loaned for an average of half a month after the completion of the house purchase, and the average loan period after the transfer in January 2021 has been extended to 1 to 2 months.
However, in the Shenzhen area, according to a person in charge of an intermediary agency in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, the approval speed of the four major banks is about half a month to a month.
"As long as you can apply through the lender's qualifications, the general loan speed is not a problem, and there is no longer the loan cycle for the time being."
At the same time, mortgage interest rates in some areas have risen.
Starting from January 27, the four major banks in Guangzhou Gongnong Construction Group raised the interest rate on the first home loan to the lowest 5-year LPR by 55 basis points, and the second home loan was raised to the lowest 5-year LPR by 75 basis points.
After the interest rate adjustment, the first home loan interest rate and the second home loan interest rate of the four major banks rose from 5.05% and 5.25% to 5.2% and 5.4%, respectively.
According to multiple feedbacks from banks and real estate intermediaries, because the Guangzhou property market volume in 2020 is too hot, there is a backlog of mortgage loans from many banks.
At the beginning of 2021, banks generally used the quota to issue the backlog of mortgages in 2020, but prices have risen by an average of 20 basis points compared with 2020.
Not all areas have "increased prices."
In the Shanghai area, according to the real estate agency, the interest rate is the same as last year. The loan interest rate for the first home is based on the LPR published price, and the second home is based on an increase of 60 basis points on the LPR benchmark.
The current housing loan interest rate in Shenzhen remains at the same level as last year. The generally implemented interest rate is the first home interest rate, the 5-year LPR interest rate has risen by 30 basis points, and the second home interest rate has risen by 60 basis points. The 5-year LPR interest rate has risen by 60 basis points. There are plans to increase interest rates.
Residents' house purchase leverage is expected to stabilize and decline
According to industry insiders, adhering to the positioning of "housing to live without speculation", banks are constrained by the "red line of housing loans", the overall trend of personal housing loans in 2021 will be tight, and with the continuous increase of relevant policies, banks have stricter qualification reviews for housing loans , It is expected that in 2021, the leverage ratio of residents' house purchases will steadily decrease.
On December 31, 2020, the Central Bank and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Notice on Establishing a Real Estate Loan Concentration Management System for Banking Financial Institutions", establishing a real estate loan concentration management system for banking financial institutions, and setting real estate loans and individuals in five levels The upper limit of the proportion of housing loans.
Liang Si, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, said that overall, scale control will affect the availability of real estate credit, and housing interest rates may rise slightly, but the magnitude is not expected to be too large.
Pan Hao, a senior analyst at Shell Research Institute, said that under the influence of the introduction of the real estate loan concentration management system, some banks may have tightened quotas and extended lending cycles. This state is expected to continue for a long time. Under this background, residents The fall in house purchase leverage is a high probability event.
"The probability of LPR going down further is low. With commercial banks reluctant to borrow money, it is expected that in 2021, residents' house purchase leverage will be steadily decreasing." He said.
With the upgrading of housing-related credit supervision in many places, banks' qualification review of mortgage lenders is also becoming stricter.
The head of a branch of a joint-stock bank in Shenzhen told reporters that the bank's personal housing loans are still normally acquired and issued in an orderly manner.
However, the qualification review of mortgage lenders is stricter, the risk is strictly assessed, and the buyers who do not meet the requirement of the debt service income ratio are not allowed to lend.
"For example, the turnover cannot cover a non-approved loan with twice the monthly payment, and the source of the down payment except for the immediate family members does not meet the requirements. Loan applications for these buyers generally will not be approved." The president said.
(Reporting by reporter Zhang Moliangqian, Wang Shujuan, Meng Yingru, Wu Yanting and intern Luan Songwei from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen)