By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-12 07:38

SHANGHAI: Personal loans and mortgages at the city's domestic banks rose significantly in the third quarter to nearly double that of the first half, the central bank's Shanghai headquarters said Thursday.

Personal loans and mortgages issued by Shanghai's domestic banks, boosted by a mortgage boom, amounted to nearly 21 billion yuan from July to September, accounting for about 70 percent of total lending growth at the banks.

The figures come ahead of further details expected from the People's Bank of China on last month's mortgage policy announcement, in which it raised the down payment for second-home buyers to try to curb surging property prices.

The Shanghai banking figures are also seen to reflect the fervor of national banks to expand in the profitable loans business.

The surge in mortgages contributed more than 90 percent of personal consumer lending at the city's domestic banks in the three months from July, the central bank's Shanghai headquarters said.

A total of 19.13 billion yuan of mortgage growth was reported for the three months, increasing 5.87 billion yuan in July, 7.13 billion yuan in August and 6.13 billion yuan in September.

That's a 12.3 billion yuan increase on the growth generated in the first six months this year, with loans for new apartments increasing 10.44 billion yuan and pre-owned apartments rising 8.69 billion yuan.

But in its latest bid to curb speculative behavior and ease risks, the central bank, along with the China Banking Regulatory Commission, raised the mortgage down payment for second-apartment buyers to 40 percent from 30 percent. Meanwhile, the mortgage rate for second homes has been set at 1.1 times the benchmark one-year lending rate.

But banks across China are still trying to determine the policy definition of a second apartment, with some in Shanghai suspending transactions on ambiguous deals, for fear of being penalized.

A bank clerk with the Shanghai branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said Thursday it had yet to receive notice of the higher rate for second apartments. But she said the bank would include a transaction by a buyer's spouse as a second-home purchase.