SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese regulators stepped up efforts to encourage lenders to extend loans to qualified real estate projects as the property sector faced fresh risks from a widening mortgage-payment boycott on unfinished houses.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) told the official industry newspaper on Sunday that banks should meet developers’ financing needs where reasonable.
The CBIRC expressed confidence that with concerted efforts, “all the difficulties and problems will be properly solved,” the China Banking and Insurance News reported.
The remarks come as a growing number of home buyers across China threatened to stop making their mortgage payments for stalled property projects, aggravating a real estate crisis that has already hit the economy.
The latest news helped banking and property stocks recover some of their recent losses. China’s banking index, which tumbled 7% to a more than two-year low last week, bounced more than 1% on Monday morning. Chinese real estate stocks gained more than 2% on the mainland, and jumped nearly 5% in Hong Kong.
“I think the Chinese government has the will and means to solve the problem, and will likely take swift actions,” said Mark Dong, Hong Kong-based co-founder and general manager of Minority Asset Management.
“The biggest risk is impairment to consumer confidence, which threatens the nascent recovery in property sales.”
Dong expects state-owned developers to step in and acquire troubled projects from heavily-indebted private peers, accelerating an industry consolidation.
The CBIRC had already vowed last Thursday to strengthen its coordination with other regulators to “guarantee the delivery of homes”.
The rebound in Chinese banking stocks was also aided by news that China will accelerate the issuance of special local government bonds to help supplement the capital of small banks, part of efforts to reduce risks in the sector.
In the Sunday interview, the regulator urged banks to “shoulder social responsibility” and actively participate in the study of plans to fill the funding gap and support acquisitions of real estate projects.
The regulator hoped these steps would help stabilize the property market by enabling the swift resumption of stalled real estate construction and delivery of homes to buyers early.
Mainland property shares rebounded sharply in Hong Kong.
Country Garden Holdings Co, Longfor Group and CIFI Holdings (Group) Co all jumped more than 6%.
(Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Hugh Lawson & Shri Navaratnam)