Mortgage rule changes said to be in the pipeline

Sources hint at early expansion of 'first-time homebuyer' conditions

A media report that China's four largest banks may ease terms for home loans has drawn wide attention, but analysts said that only broad-based changes in mortgage conditions could really reverse the nation's accelerating property downturn.

The lenders to which the as-yet-unconfirmed report referred are Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp and Bank of China Ltd.