AS many as 95 cities in China have lowered the floor on commercial individual mortgage rates for first-time home buyers, according to the People’s Bank of China, the central bank. While 24 others had also abolished the floor as of the end of September amid the government’s efforts to help bring down borrowing costs for home buyers and boost the real estate market. In its Third-Quarter Monetary Policy Report, the central bank said it encouraged more cities to lower or abolish the mortgage rate floor for first-time home buyers since the start of the year. As of the end of September, the rate moderation had affected more than 22 trillion yuan (US$3.1 trillion) in existing loans for first-time home buyers, with the weighted average interest rate lowered to 4.27% after the change, down 73 basis points on average compared with that before the change, according to the report. The report said that it would help borrowers save up to 170 billion yuan in interest payments, benefiting 150 million individuals. (Xinhua) | 