Beijing rolls out harshest ever home buyer down payment levels
For ‘non-ordinary’ purchases – which cover most trade-up buyers – the minimum payment has been raised to 80 per cent
Beijing municipal government imposed the harshest down payment requirements in history on Friday, after previous property cooling measures failed to prevent an ongoing and frenetic home-buying spree.
Down payments for second-time “ordinary home” buyers was raised to a minimum 60 per cent, from 50 per cent before, while second-time “non-ordinary home” buyers will have to pay a minimum of 80 per cent, up from 70 per cent, according to the city’s housing and banking authorities.
The capital’s authorities introduced the distinction between “ordinary” and “non-ordinary” home on September 30. Homes larger than 144 square metres, or with a price 20 per cent higher than government-set guidelines, are defined as “non-ordinary”, and are subject to higher down payment requirement.
Most of the city’s flats developed by the private sector would be considered “non-ordinary – which covers most trade-up buyers – the minimum payment has been raised to 80 per cent, the highest in Beijing history and the highest of all mainland cities.
Compounding the intensity of the latest cooling measures, the city has also toughed the definition of “first-time buyers”, with any buyers who has a mortgage history, no matter whether they own a flat or not, will not be considered “first-time buyers”.
Shanghai introduced that policy in its late November purchase curbs, but they were avoided in Beijing and other mainland cities.
