, Columnist
China’s Uneasy Dance With Its Mutinous Homebuyers
Borrowers are rushing to pay down mortgages as rates fall. That is making Beijing and the banks uncomfortable.
Mortgage repayments.
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With residential real estate prices in decline for more than a year, the Chinese government has been in an uneasy dance with homeowners. From mortgage boycotts to a stampede of early repayments, the middle class is throwing out one problem after another.
The latest pressure point is a pickup in home-loan repayments. The wave of requests has been so strong lately, some banks had to impose caps on prepayments, according to local media. Even regulators took notice, checking on how the nation’s major lenders are coping with this stress. Early mortgage payments erode banks’ profitability.