Mortgage loans harder to get after govt policy

Commercial banks in Beijing are tightening their first apartment loan policy and adopting a stricter qualification check on clients who want to buy a second apartment, insiders said.

An employee of a China Construction Bank branch, who declined to be named, said since November 2009, clients applying for mortgage loans can only enjoy a 10 percent discount if their down payment is 20 percent. Only when they pay 40 percent of the down payment can they get a 30 percent discount.

And customers at the Bank of China can only get discounts of as much as 15 percent instead of the standard 30 percent, Xinhuanet.com reported.