State Council, Circular on Determined Suppression of the Exceedingly Rapid Rise of Certain Urban Housing Prices

Issued: April 17 2010

Main contents: The Circular states that where a family (including the borrower, spouse and minor children) purchases its first unit of self-occupied residential premises with a floor area of 90 square metres or more, the down payment may not be less than 30% of the mortgage loan. Where it purchases a second unit of residential premises, the down payment may not be less than 50% of the loan, and the mortgage interest rate may not be less than 1.1-times the benchmark interest rate. In regions where the prices of commodity residential premises are exceedingly high or rising too rapidly, or where property is in short supply, commercial banks may suspend the grant of mortgage loans for purchase of a third unit or more of residential premises according to the risk position, and for non-local residents failing to provide at least one year's proof of local tax payment or social insurance contributions (Article 3).