Chinese banks may cut mortgage rates

Beijing, June 11 (IANS) Chinese banks may lower their mortgage rates after the central bank decided to cut its benchmark interest rates last week, a media report said Monday.

The Guangdong Huaxing Bank said Sunday that it will offer a 30 percent discount for first home buyers applying for mortgages. It is the first bank to lower mortgage rates after the central bank's June 7 announcement.

The state-owned bank, however, stressed that it will continue to enforce the policy of increasing benchmark interest rate by 1.1 times for second home buyers, China Daily reported.

For most banks, including the state-owned ones, the maximum discount for first home buyers remain at 15 percent by Sunday.

An industry source said that if one bank lowers its mortgage rates, other banks usually follow suit.