China Mulls Mortgage Easing to Spur Homebuying in Big Cities

  • Officials weigh lifting a hurdle curbing home demand: sources
  • PBOC said real estate policies will be “tailored” to cities
WATCH: China is said to be considering easing homebuying restrictions in some of its biggest cities. Charlie Zhu reports.Source: Bloomberg
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Chinese authorities are considering easing home buying restrictions in the nation’s biggest cities, potentially removing a hurdle that has curbed demand in Beijing and Shanghai for years, according to people familiar with the matter.

Regulators are weighing scrapping rules that disqualify people who’ve ever had a mortgage - even if fully repaid - from being considered a first-time homebuyer in major cities, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Currently homebuyers with a mortgage record who don’t own a property are still subject to the higher down-payment and more restrictive borrowing limits applied to those buying a second home.