China's Tianjin city steps up curbs to tighten mortgage lending

BEIJING: China's major port city of Tianjin on Monday announced stricter tightening measures to rein in a red-hot property market, by hiking the downpayment ratio for buyers of first and second homes.

The ratio has increased to 30 percent for first-home buyers borrowing from banks, versus 20 percent earlier, the central bank branch in Tianjin, near Beijing, the Chinese capital, said in a statement.

A higher downpayment, of 40 percent, is required from those with unpaid mortgages who plan to buy a second home, it added.

The new rules took effect on Saturday.

Tianjin was among 15 cities that adopted tightening measures in the first week of October, as part of efforts to damp property speculation.

Since then, some of the cities, such as Shenzhen and Wuhan, have stepped up measures with fresh curbs, although not as restrictive as those of Tianjin.