四川撤回首套房贷款补贴政策

Chinese cities have been relaxing property curbs in recent weeks to address a housing market slump. But a potential example of backpedaling in Sichuan province shows local governments are still finding their way when it comes to policy tweaking.

近几周来，中国多个城市放松了楼市限制措施，以应对楼市低迷的局面。但四川省撤回救市政策的例子显示出，地方政府仍在寻找政策调整的方式。

Over the weekend, western China's Sichuan province removed a statement it posted on Friday saying it would give subsidies to banks to support lending to homebuyers. Specifically, it would offer a 3% subsidy on loans that are offered on benchmark rates or lower to first-time homebuyers in the second half of the year.

周末期间，四川省撤回了上周五发布的一份公告。公告中称，将向银行提供补贴，支持银行向购房者放贷。具体内容是，今年下半年期间，对金融机构以不超过基准利率向首次购房者提供的贷款，政府将给予相当于贷款额3%的补助。

The subsidy was meant to 'encourage financial institutions to support households' basic housing demand and to boost the healthy development of the province's construction and property sectors,' the statement said.

公告称，这项补贴意在鼓励金融机构支持居民家庭购买基本住房，促进全省建筑业和房地产业健康发展。

By Sunday, the statement on the finance bureau website of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, had been removed. It wasn't clear whether that meant the policy itself had also been reversed. Calls to Chengdu Finance Bureau were unanswered, while China's housing ministry has yet to respond to queries.

四川的一处建筑工地周日四川省会成都市财政局网站上发布的这份公告已经撤回。不清楚这是否意味着政策本身也取消了。记者多次致电成都市财政局，但无人接听，而中国住房和城乡建设部尚未回复记者的置评请求。

Around 30 local governments, including Chengdu, Hohhot, Hangzhou and Ningbo, have eased restrictions on home purchases in recent weeks to juice tepid housing sales. The market has been hurt by a housing supply glut and tightened credit. Central government officials have said that local governments have been given more authority to adjust their housing policies according to the local conditions.

近几周来，成都、呼和浩特、杭州和宁波等约30个地方政府放松了购房限制措施，以提振低迷的房地产销售。楼市因供应过剩以及信贷收紧而受到打击。中央政府官员表示，已给予地方政府根据当地情况调整楼市政策的更大权力。

Sichuan's move would have been significant step up from what some other cities have done. While they have loosened curbs on purchases of second homes and other restrictions, they haven't pushed for new lending amid broader worries about China's rising debt levels.

四川省提供补贴的做法比其他一些城市推出的举措更进了一步。尽管这些城市放宽了二套房限购措施以及其他限制，但由于担心中国债务水平不断上升，一直没有力推银行扩大放贷规模。

'Mortgages are very important to first time buyers, and if they are limited and expensive, that would hurt transactions,' said Michael Klibaner, head of research for China at JLL or Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consultancy.

仲量联行(Jones Lang Lasalle)中国研究部门负责人柯志谦(Michael Klibaner)表示，抵押贷款对首次购房者来说非常重要，如果抵押贷款受到限制，或者贷款成本高昂，就会阻碍购房交易。

'It seems like an inefficient way to boost transactions, though,' Mr. Klibaner added. He said a more productive way would be to lower the reserve requirements for mortgages, but that might be a decision that only leaders in Beijing can make.

但柯志谦还说，这似乎并不是推动购房交易的有效途径。他说，一个更有效的办法是降低住房抵押贷款的准备金要求，但这可能是只有中央领导人才能作出的决定。

'Many Chinese cities only started to loosen limits on home purchases in recent weeks. It might be too soon for the central government to allow loosening in housing loans too, ' said Rosealea Yao, an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics.

Gavekal Dragonomics的分析师Rosealea Yao认为，中国的许多城市最近几周才刚刚开始放松对购房的限制，要中央政府现在就批准放松对住房贷款的限制可能还为时过早。

Many analysts said that banks' restraint on credit to the housing market is a more important reason for the property market downturn than the impact of administrative curbs. Housing sales by floor area in Chengdu in July fell 20% from the same month in 2013, according to data from China Real Estate Index System.

许多分析师指出，相对于行政调控的影响，银行限制对房地产市场的信贷投放才是楼市低迷的更重要原因。中国房地产指数系统(China Real Estate Index System)显示，成都7月份住房销售面积较2013年同期下降了20%。

Chinese cities such as Foshan in Guangdong province and central China's Henan province have reversed course on easing their grip on property curbs in 2011 and 2012 respectively, illustrating tension between Beijing and local governments over property policies.

广东佛山等城市以及河南省都已调整了政策，分别在2011年和2012年放松了对楼市的调控，凸显出中央与地方政府在房地产政策上的紧张关系。

Since the start of the year, banks have tightened credit to homebuyers, charging a premium on benchmark rates since the start of the year and taking a longer time to approve housing loans. Bank executives noted that thin profit margins from mortgages, and rising risks of housing loans amid an intensifying supply glut of apartments make housing loans unattractive to lenders.

自年初以来，银行收紧了对购房者的信贷投放，不仅从年初开始在基准利率的基础上提高了住房贷款利率，而且延长了贷款审批时间。银行高管称，住房抵押贷款利润微薄，而且在住宅供应过剩状况日趋严重的情况下，住房贷款的风险不断加大，使得房贷业务对银行没有什么吸引力。