Four state-owned commercial banks clarify relevant rules

After the Central Bank and the State Administration of Financial Supervision jointly issued the Notice on Matters Related to Reducing the Loan Interest Rate of the First House in Stock at the end of August, on September 7, ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank, four major state-owned commercial banks, successively issued announcements on relevant operational matters, clarifying the scope, time and rules of adjustment Application channels, etc.

According to the announcement of the four major banks, the scope of this adjustment is the first commercial individual housing loan issued before August 31, 2023 and the first commercial individual housing loan that has signed a contract but has not been issued. The loan granting or contract signing that does not meet the first housing standard, but has met the first housing loan policy of the city, is also within the scope of this adjustment.

The four major banks said that the minimum amount of stock individual housing loans that meet the requirements can be adjusted to the lower limit of the interest rate policy for the first housing loan in the city where the original loan was issued. Currently, the stock housing loans with floating interest rates are priced by LPR, and the four major banks will take the initiative to reduce the loan interest rate in batches from September 25, 2023, without customer application; Existing housing loans priced at fixed or benchmark interest rates are first converted into floating rate loans priced at LPR, and then the loan interest rate is adjusted.

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However, for existing housing loans that are "converted from the second housing to the first housing", or for existing housing loans that repay the outstanding principal and interest due to non-performing loans, customers need to actively apply to the bank for interest rate adjustment. In addition, the current stock housing loans priced at fixed or benchmark interest rates also need customers to actively apply to the bank for interest rate adjustment.

Agricultural Bank of China also specifically mentioned that customers can check whether the interest rate of their existing housing loan meets the conditions for reduction and the extent of reduction from September 15, 2023. The interest rate reduction of stock housing loans will take effect on the date of adjustment, which will be implemented according to the new interest rate margin, and the pricing benchmark LPR will be adjusted according to the agreed re pricing rules. The interest rate adjustment of the existing housing loan is not retroactive, and the previous housing loan interest is not adjusted.

From the perspective of the interest rate level after the reduction of the interest rate of the existing housing loan, the four major banks said that the lowest interest rate of the floating rate loans issued before October 8, 2019 (excluding the current day), which have been converted to the pricing of the loan market quoted rate (LPR), and the loans issued from October 8, 2019 (including the current day) to May 14, 2022 (including the current day) can be adjusted to the corresponding period without LPR points; For those that have been issued from May 15, 2022 (inclusive) to August 31, 2023 (inclusive) or have signed a contract but have not been issued, the minimum interest rate can be adjusted to the corresponding period LPR minus 20 basis points. In addition, during the above three periods, if the lower limit of the interest rate policy for the first house in the city where the loan is issued is higher than the lower limit of the national policy, the lower limit of the interest rate policy for the first house in the city where the loan is issued shall prevail.

The four major banks also made it clear that this interest rate adjustment can be applied through online channels (mobile banking) and offline channels (loan agencies) without any charge.

Li Yansen, the chief macroeconomic researcher of Founder Medium Term Futures Research Institute, told the reporter that the four major banks took the lead in announcing the reduction of mortgage interest rates, which was the response to the previous central bank's policy of reducing the stock of mortgage loans, and also the implementation of the policy. On the whole, this policy is one part of the package of policies to stabilize the real estate market. Other aspects include lowering the lower limit of loan interest rate and the down payment ratio of house purchase. In addition, the market also has some expectations for deregulation or partial relaxation of purchase restrictions in first tier cities, and will continue to pay attention in the future.

"From the effect of the policy, the reduction of the interest rate of stock housing loans will help reduce the financial pressure of buyers, which is a reflection of protecting the rigid demand and changing the demand, and can also indirectly stimulate consumption." Li Yansen said that the introduction of a package of policies will help improve the confidence of buyers, increase the possibility of a stable rebound in housing sales, and also help to stabilize housing prices Stabilize the upstream entities of the market, especially the real estate development enterprises, and reduce the risks of the real estate industry chain.

Zhu He, head of the financial derivatives group of Guotou Essence Futures, also said that the reduction of the interest rate of stock housing loans would directly benefit the residents, reduce the phenomenon of prepayment of stock loans, increase the disposable income of residents, and help boost consumer confidence. "According to the data of the Central Bank, the balance of personal housing loans at the end of the second quarter of 2023 is 38.6 trillion yuan, and the weighted average interest rate of newly issued personal housing loans in the first half of 2023 is 4.18%. Under the condition that the existing mortgage is reduced by 80BP and the scale of interest rate adjustment of the existing housing loan reaches two-thirds, we estimate that the industry can reduce the interest rate of housing loans by about 200 billion yuan every year (38.6 trillion yuan × 2/3 stock loans × 80BP). " She said.

As far as real estate sales are concerned, Zhu He believes that since the third quarter of this year, the central level has continued to launch policies to stabilize the property market. If local governments make good use of the policy toolbox and speed up implementation, it will be conducive to driving demand into the market, especially the recovery of the prices and sales of the first and second tier real estate, promoting the stability and recovery of the real estate market, and then stabilizing economic development.

Talking about the impact of the above policies on bulk commodities, Li Yansen believes that the overall preference for bulk commodities is more favorable, especially for the black industrial chain varieties, and it has completed the pricing of this policy. The continuous impact in the future will turn to the effect after the policy is implemented, such as the improvement of housing sales.

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