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China Everbright Bank will be the first lender in China to offer fixed-rate mortgages to home buyers in major Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Beijing.

 

The Beijing-based bank will provide individual housing loans at a fixed-rate during the life of the loan, no matter what changes the central bank makes to its interest rates.

 

Banking regulators approved this new service to help home owners hedge against fluctuating interest rates, which are expected to rise in the future.

 

Analyst said the product will help the bank attract customers who prefer stability. They said the practice should benefit home buyers in the short term as interest rates are expected to raise in the coming few years.

 

"In the face of such uncertainty (about interest rates), the bank certainly has its advantage as it knows more about the trends in interest rates than mortgage appliers," said Wu Yonggang, a banking analyst at Guotai and Jun'an Securities Co.

 

China Everbright Bank said it hasn't decided on the initial fixed-rate yet, but Wu predicted it would be probably be slightly higher than the current floating rate many banks have adopted.

 

According to the central bank, the benchmark floating rate for five-year mortgages is 6.12 percent. Lenders can cut the rate by up to 10 percent for important customers.

 

Wu predicted more banks around the country will apply for permission to offer fixed-rate mortgages in the near future.

 

Pudong Development Bank and China Construction Bank have applied to regulators for permission to offer fixed-rate loans.

 

Business insider said the move was led by the government's effort to boost the housing loan market by lowering thresholds and offering preferential policies to spur the housing market, which has been in a slump recently.

 

"It will trigger a battle among banks to attract customers rather than spur the housing market. The market is really dominated by housing prices," said Liu Luqun, a consultant at Shanghai Erhai Investment and Consulting Co Ltd. "People will not rush to buy houses just because the uncertainty about interest rates is reduced."

 

China's benchmark interest rates have risen by more than 21 percent since 2002. The benchmark rate rose from 5.04 percent in 2002 to 5.31 percent in 2004, and 6.12 percent last year.

 

(Shanghai Daily January 7, 2006)