Hong Kong/China Property Daily:Inside the Great Wall

Guangzhou revises HPF policies following new tightening measures

    The Guangzhou Housing Provident Fund (HPF) Centre announced that HPFloans are adjusted in accordance with the new tightening measures launchedon 17 March. Details: 1) any household without a previous mortgage record issubject to 30% down payment and the HPF benchmark borrowing rate; 2) anyhousehold who does not own a house but have a previous mortgage loanrecord is subject to 40% down payment and the HPF benchmark borrowingrate; 3) any household who owns a flat in the city without a mortgage recordor who has the mortgage loan fully repaid is subject to 50% down paymentand 1.1 times the HPF benchmark borrowing rate; 4) any household with anoutstanding mortgage loan is subject to 70% down payment and 1.1 times theHPF benchmark borrowing rates; 5) any household who is going to purchase anon-ordinary residential unit (a commodity unit with GFA above 144sqm) issubject to 70% down payment and 1 or 1.1 times the HPF benchmarkborrowing rate; and 6) borrowers who purchase a third or more unit are noteligible for HPF loans. (Guandian)

    Beijing banks suspend granting of mortgage loans with tenors above 25 years

    With the launch of new tightening measures on 17 March, banks in Beijinghave revised their business strategies accordingly. The down payment ratiosrequired by banks of mortgage loan applicants have increased, and banks havesuspended the granting of mortgage loans with tenors longer than 25 years.Some are even holding discussions on lifting the borrowing rate, so the 10%discount on the borrowing rate may soon become unavailable. (CFI)HONG KONG

    28 Expressions of Interest received for URA’s Fuk Chak St/Li Tak St project

    The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) received 28 Expressions of Interest (EOI)for its Fuk Chak Street/Li Tak Street redevelopment project in Tai Kok Tsui. TheHong Kong developers that have submitted EOI include CK Property (1113.HK),New World (0017.HK), SHKP (0016.HK), Wheelock Properties, COLI (0688.HK),Kowloon Development (0034.HK), K. Wah (0173.HK) and Far East Consortium(0035.HK). The project is scheduled for completion by 2020/21 and will provideabout 96 residential units. (URA press release, HKEJ)

    Contrasting rental value change in commercial and residential districts

    Latest data from the Rating and Valuation Department (RVD) show that for theyear of 2017/18, the annual rental value for several shops located in CausewayBay dropped 24.6-46.8% YoY. Market practitioners expect rents in the districtto still face 25% downside risk this year. In contrast, some shops located inresidential districts such as To Kwa Wan and Sheung Shui report a YoYincrease of 4.8-10.9% in annual rental value in the year of 2017/18. (HKEJ)