In 2022, the loosening of housing loans will expand from the first tier to the second tier cities. The first financial reporter recently learned that after the housing loans in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were relaxed to varying degrees, some second – and third tier cities also showed obvious signs of relaxation, of which second-hand housing loans are still the most obvious, but there are great differences between banks.
Taking Nanjing as an example, the mortgage interest rates of most large banks have not changed, some small and medium-sized banks have maintained their interest rates above 6%, and some banks have returned to the “5 era”; Suzhou has large commercial loans, which can reach a minimum of 4.9%.
Some institutions predict that while the financing constraints of the real estate industry will be further relaxed in 2022, there will be more adjustments due to urban implementation policies, which is worth looking forward to. For mortgage loans with lower risk and higher income, under the pressure of net interest margin, banks will be more willing to lend as long as the amount is sufficient in the future.
However, it is worth noting that although the mortgage interest rate of some small and medium-sized banks has been reduced, the “comprehensive contribution” of home buyers in the bank will be considered in the qualification evaluation, and some intermediaries reported that some banks have financial “bundling” behavior. In this regard, insiders told reporters that such practices of banks are not new, and they also existed before the tightening of supervision, which may be related to the “good start” at the beginning of the year and the increase of quota.
interest rates in second tier cities also fell , inter-bank differentiation was obvious
At the beginning of the year, the first financial reporter learned that the marginal relaxation of loans in the real estate industry continued after regulatory correction. Among them, the lowest interest rates of the first and second homes in Guangzhou were reduced to about 5.65% and 5.85% respectively. Some small and medium-sized banks in Shenzhen also adjusted the mortgage interest rates, and Beijing and Shanghai significantly accelerated their lending speed. The account manager of a large bank in Beijing said that at present, the amount is sufficient and the stock loan has been issued, but the mortgage interest rate remains at 5.2% for the first set and 5.7% for the second set. The loan time of second-hand housing is about 2 ~ 3 months at the fastest, and has returned to the normal process time.
Recently, some second tier cities have also accelerated the relaxation of mortgage loans. In addition to shortening the lending time, some banks have also made interest rate adjustments. According to the reporter, a number of small and medium-sized banks in Nanjing recently lowered the mortgage interest rate, of which Bank Of Jiangsu Co.Ltd(600919) under the condition that the new house interest rate remained unchanged, the interest rate of the first second-hand house loan decreased from 6.15% (LPR + 150bp) to 5.85% (LPR + 120bp), and the lending cycle was shortened to 1 ~ 2 months. According to the staff of the local personal loan center of Huishang bank, the mortgage interest rate of the bank’s first house is still unified at 5.85%, but there is room for adjustment in different branches. At present, the amount is sufficient and loans can be made in 1 ~ 2 months. The personal loan manager of a branch of the bank said that the lowest interest rate range of the first second-hand house can be 5.25%, but the requirements for the lender’s qualification are high, And this policy has been maintained for a long time.
However, as a small and medium-sized bank, rural commercial banks are still “nervous”. The mortgage interest rate of a local agricultural commercial bank in Jiangsu is relatively high and has not been adjusted, including 6.45% for the first set of second-hand houses and 6.65% for the second set of houses, and 5.95% and 6.15% for new houses in cooperation with developers. The customer manager of a local branch of the bank said that under the previous regulatory requirements, the quota has been relatively tight. At present, although it is loose, it is not obvious, but the lending is accelerated.
In contrast, the local national banks and joint-stock banks in Nanjing are more “calm”, and the first set of second-hand houses is mainly maintained at 6.15%. “Compared with small banks, it must be tight. There is no adjustment in our policies.” The person in charge of personal loans of a large state-owned bank said that because of the large amount of business precipitation before, it is still in the stage of solving the stock loans. Not only does the interest rate remain unchanged at 6.15%, but new applications for personal loans have to queue up. Another staff member of a joint-stock bank said that the current lending time was significantly shortened, but “the degree of easing was not as obvious as expected”.
Suzhou, which is also in Jiangsu Province, is obviously different from Nanjing. The staff of many large banks in local branches said that the mortgage interest rate has been reduced recently, including CCB to 5%, and the personal loan manager of ABC said that if the qualification of house buyers is particularly good, the minimum can be 4.9%. The staff of several banks in Qingdao also said that at present, the interest rate has not been adjusted, but “the loan is very fast, and the loan can be made almost a week after the mortgage is completed.”
the “bundle sales” of some small and medium-sized banks reappeared
“The loan interest rate varies according to the customer’s comprehensive contribution to our bank.” The individual loan manager of a branch of a regional joint-stock bank in Nanjing said that the mortgage interest rate of the bank has room for adjustment, but it depends on the customer’s deposit in the bank. Whether there is a deposit and the amount of deposit will affect the loan interest rate. In addition, local intermediaries in Suzhou reported that from the perspective of banks cooperating with their institutions, the lending time of the four major banks is more timely. Although the interest rate of some small and medium-sized banks is reduced, there is a “delay” phenomenon, as well as “conditional binding” of financial products.
In this regard, some people in the industry said that the phenomenon of “bundle sales” has always existed, but after the real estate regulation has been overweight, due to the shortage of quota, the current quota is slightly sufficient and may appear again. “Two points are more important. One is the time point. At the beginning of the year, there is a \’good start\’ KPI pressure, which needs to pull deposits and intermediate income; the second is that there is less quota and more demand, and there is more room for binding in the seller’s market.” The source said.
The first financial reporter also learned from some buyers that the current phenomenon of “order grabbing” of banks is more obvious than before, including a personal loan manager who actively added wechat to help introduce intermediaries and detailed processes, which is much “enthusiastic” compared with last year. However, the differentiation between different cities is obvious. In Chengdu and other places, some large bank outlets have not resumed the second-hand housing business, and all housing loan business is handed over to the special loan department of each branch / sub branch.
With the recovery of the demand side and the relaxation of the financing environment of real estate enterprises, the market expectation for real estate developers is also more optimistic. Previously, many institutions pointed out that the main support of developers still comes from operating funds, and mortgage support is the key. According to the latest data of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, at the end of November 2021, real estate loans increased by 8.4% year-on-year, and the reasonable housing needs of buyers were further met. More than 90% of personal housing loans were used to support the first loan. The other side of the mortgage is the sales volume of real estate enterprises. According to Kerui data, although the overall sales volume of the top 100 real estate enterprises showed negative growth last year, there were signs of recovery in December. The monthly sales volume was 994.01 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 35.2% and a month-on-month increase of 32.4% compared with November. Large intermediaries in Beijing told reporters that second-hand housing transactions have continued to rise significantly since October, and prices have also risen slightly.
Changjiang Securities Company Limited(000783) Wu Ge, chief economist, pointed out in the latest research report that combined with historical experience, if we want to correct the deviation of sales growth and turn positive, there may still be about 30bp downward space for housing loan interest rate, which is often realized by reducing the loan market quotation interest rate (LPR) and adding points. He predicted that in 2022, especially in the first half of the year, in addition to the further relaxation of financing constraints of real estate enterprises, more optimization and adjustment of housing pre-sale fund supervision and urban implementation policies are worth looking forward to.
For mortgage loans, Yan Meizhi, head of China financial industry research at UBS, said recently that because the amount is small, the risk is low and the interest income is more considerable, the bank itself is more willing to mortgage loans. Insiders said that considering the pressure on the net interest margin of the banking industry in 2022, banks may have more sufficient motivation to do mortgage business.
