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reporter of china business network: li yuwen editor of china business network: ma ziqing

recently, a user with existing mortgage loans in guangzhou said on a social platform that he applied for early repayment of mortgage loans on the icbc app, but was rejected because the starting amount did not meet the requirements. the page on the app showed that "if you choose to make a partial payment when making an appointment for repayment, the amount you enter must be greater than 50,000 yuan." on september 3, according to 21 finance, the guangzhou branch responded that the bank did not set a starting amount for early repayment of online or offline personal housing loans. the above situation occurred due to the bank's system upgrade and has now returned to normal.

in addition, the reporter of daily economic news also learned from multiple sources that icbc branches in different regions have different standards for early repayment of housing loans. for example, shanghai requires the minimum amount of partial early repayment to be 6 times the monthly payment, shenzhen requires the minimum amount of early repayment to be 10,000 yuan, and beijing has no limit on the amount.

icbc's early repayment standards vary from region to region

according to information obtained from the daily economic news reporter,icbc branches in different regions have different standards for early repayment of mortgage loans。

in the beijing area,an icbc beijing branch staff member told the daily economic news reporter that there is no limit on the number of early repayments for mortgages, and there is no limit on the repayment amount for each application, and the entire process can be done online. "you can choose to pay off the loan in one lump sum, or you can repay part of the loan in advance. some customers have paid 1,000 yuan in advance before. submit an early repayment application on the icbc app. after we approve it, you will receive a text message of successful approval. you need to deposit the money to your card before the selected repayment date, and the money will be automatically deducted on the repayment date. after this early repayment, if you want to apply for early repayment again, you need to wait until a normal repayment date before you can apply again."

in shanghai area,the reporter of the daily economic news learned from several icbc branches that early repayment of mortgage loans can only be made once a year online, with an amount not exceeding 300,000 yuan, while offline applications can be made multiple times, with an appointment made one month in advance, and no upper limit on the amount. regardless of online or offline, the minimum repayment amount for partial early repayment is 6 times the monthly payment. "for example, if the monthly repayment is 10,000 yuan, the early repayment amount must be at least 60,000 yuan," a staff member explained.

in shenzhen area,several icbc staff members said that the app shows that you can make three early repayments a year, but the actual implementation is not subject to this limit, and there is no limit on the number of offline applications. "you can try to apply on the app. if you cannot apply again after three attempts, you can still make early repayments by submitting an application offline." the staff member said. as for the limit on the amount of early repayment, the other party said that the minimum is 10,000 yuan, and you can choose to pay it off in one lump sum.

recently, the existing mortgage users in guangzhou have been asked to pay back the minimum amount of 50,000 yuan in advance on the app. the reporter consulted several icbc branches in guangzhou as a customer and was told that "the above situation is true." on september 3, according to 21 finance, the reporter learned from the guangzhou branch of icbc thatthe bank does not set a minimum amount for early repayment of online or offline personal housing loans.，the above situation is due to the bank's system upgrade.，currently back to normal。

in addition, the reporter of "daily economic news" also consulted other banks in guangzhou about their requirements for early repayment of mortgage loans. among them, a staff member of a branch of china construction bank said that early repayments must start from 10,000 yuan, and can be repaid in advance twice a year, each time six months apart; while a staff member of a branch of china merchants bank said that the amount of early repayments must be a multiple of 10,000 yuan, with a minimum of 10,000 yuan, and the monthly payment after early repayment cannot be less than 100 yuan. it is necessary to apply in writing 30 days in advance and go to the bank branch. "online appointments can only be made during the processing time period. if you are in a hurry, you can come directly to the site to take a number and process it. the application today is scheduled to be deducted on october 8."

calls for lowering existing mortgage rates resurface

the impact of early loan repayment still exists. the reporter sorted out the latest semi-annual reports of a-share banks in 2024 and found that the balance of personal housing loans of about 70% of the 42 banks has shrunk compared with the beginning of the year. among the six state-owned banks, except for the increase in personal housing loans of postal savings bank, the balance of personal housing loans of the other five banks has decreased compared with the beginning of the year, with a total reduction of more than 300 billion yuan. among them, the reduction in personal housing loans of icbc and abc exceeded 100 billion yuan.

since the beginning of this year, the central bank has lowered the lpr for terms of more than five years twice by a total of 35bp to 3.85%. at the same time, it canceled the national floor for first and second mortgage rates. mortgage rates have continued to decline, and mortgage rates in some cities have entered the "2 era", while existing mortgage rates are still above 4%. as the gap between new mortgage rates and existing mortgage rates gradually widens, calls for lowering existing mortgage rates have re-emerged.

recently, there have been reports that relevant departments are considering further lowering the interest rates on existing mortgage loans and allowing existing mortgage loans worth up to 38 trillion yuan to be converted into mortgages in order to reduce residents' debt burden and boost consumption.

however, wang liang, president of china merchants bank, said at the 2024 mid-term performance exchange meeting:at present, china merchants bank has not received any opinions from the regulatory authorities regarding the conversion of existing personal housing loans to mortgages, and the relevant regulatory authorities have not sought the opinions of commercial banks on this matter.this policy has not yet been officially confirmed. if implemented, it may have a certain adverse impact on the existing mortgage loans of commercial banks.

a report from the china index academy mentioned that according to the latest data from the central bank, as of the end of the second quarter of 2024, the balance of personal housing loans was 37.79 trillion yuan. if the interest rates on existing mortgage loans are further lowered, it will continue to save interest expenses for borrowers, which will be conducive to expanding consumption and investment. at the same time, it will also help stabilize housing consumption expectations and ease the wait-and-see sentiment of home buyers due to the decline in mortgage interest rates; for banks, it can further reduce the phenomenon of early loan repayments.

"however, it is worth noting that commercial banks are currently under great pressure to lower their net interest margins, and are not very willing to proactively lower interest rates on existing mortgage loans. more supporting policies may be needed in the future to guide banks to lower interest rates on existing mortgage loans, such as a corresponding reduction in deposit rates," the report also mentioned.

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