Housing markets in 2nd-tier cities revive after mortgage easing   

松贷后二线楼市速暖：房企频玩涨价 后悔地买少了

央行和银监会发布“松贷”通知松绑首套房认定后，国庆黄金周的楼市到底如何？《第一财经日报》记者了解到，这一政策“大红包”阳光普照了不少开发商，不少二线城市都在黄金周看到了回暖的曙光。[查看全文]

(ECNS) – Housing markets in second-tier cities are seeing a rebound after China's central bank eased home mortgage rules last week, China Business News reported.

Under the new policy, those who have paid off their home loans could be considered first-time buyers, enjoying a 30 percent down payment and interest rates as low as 70 percent of the benchmark rate.

Prior to the policy, second-time buyers needed to pay a 50 percent minimum down payment and at least 110 percent benchmark interest rate.

Statistics show that easing mortgage rules and lifting purchase curbs are starting to show effects in second-tier cities.

During the golden week of Oct 1 to 7, which was China's National Day holiday, Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu province, saw the number of deals rise by 48.44 percent year-on-year. By 10pm on Oct 7, 2,859 homes had been sold during the holiday.

A local real estate person said it's quite a big turn, as Nanjing's home prices had been falling for three consecutive months. He added that a friend of his, also a developer, sold 3 billion yuan ($500 million) in real estate in five days.

Property developers in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, are also feeling the effects.

"We're as busy as a bee. I spent the first day of the holiday at meetings," a developer said. Some agents even canceled their vacation plans to sell homes.

Many developers regret buying too little land in the first three quarters, as they expect land prices to heat up in the fourth quarter.

Ding Zuyu, president of property services firm Ehouse, said new policies will also boost market sentiment, as most buyers had been holding back purchases and waiting for further price drops in the first three quarters. Ding expects the home market to continue warming up for the rest of the year.

So far, 42 of 46 cities have revoked home purchase limits applied in 2011 to rein in price surges.

Big cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are still holding on to purchase curbs, and their home sales remain weak despite the mortgage easing. The number of deals in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were down by nearly 30 percent during the golden week.