Shanghai Relaxes Mortgage Rules to Bolster Housing Market Support

What’s new: Shanghai, China’s financial hub, lowered downpayment ratios and the mortgage rate floor for first-time homebuyers, becoming the first among the country’s biggest cities to step up easing measures to shore up the ailing housing market.

The city of nearly 25 million residents reduced downpayment ratios by 10 percentage points to a minimum of 20% for first-time buyers. The ratio was lowered to 30% from 40% for second-home buyers, according to a Monday statement by the central bank’s Shanghai branch.