Beijing banks cancel discount mortgages

Commercial banks in Beijing have apparently stopped providing discounts for mortgage loans, with some even hiking mortgage rates by 20 percent on top of the benchmark interest rate, sources said.

"We can accept your application, but cannot promise if we will lend." This is the message one potential homebuyer said he was told by several banks when he tried to obtain a mortgage for his first home, the Legal Evening News reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper also found that discounts for first-time homebuyers no longer exist, and the application procedure has been extended to two months or longer from two weeks.

Analysts said commercial banks are tightening mortgage loans after the credit crunch in June.