THE number of homebuyers applying for home loans in Shenzhen is declining as banks are carrying out more thorough vetting to qualify applicants, in an effort to avoid speculative buying in the real estate market, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Friday.

“Fortunately, I got my home loan half a year ago. I might not be able to pass the vetting now,” said a resident.

The resident, surnamed Chen, bought a 40-square-meter apartment in Luohu District for 2 million yuan (US$298,507) half a year ago. As Chen needed to apply for a home loan of 1.4 million yuan, he had monthly mortgage payments of 11,500 yuan. Under the tightened vetting policies, which require an applicant to have a monthly income twice his mortgage, Chen would have to earn at least 23,000 yuan per month to get the loan.

“The realty agency’s staff told me that they could help forge bank records and proof of income,” Chen said. After he paid them a commission of 300 yuan and provided his ID card, company name and a new bank card, the agency forged the documents within one day.

Chen was surprised that his documents passed the bank’s vetting process smoothly.

A realty agent in Luohu District said that 90 percent of the agency’s clients have forged bank records of their incomes to apply for home loans the past year.

Many realty agencies in Luohu and Futian said that most homebuyers failed to meet the banks’ monthly income requirements, as the home prices in Shenzhen have been skyrocketing.

Some homebuyers also took out loans for their down payments or staged a divorce so that they could pay a lower down payment on their homes. A realty agent in the Meilin area said that many couples had used fake divorce certificates to apply for home loans when they needed to buy a second apartment.

As the national authorities vowed to crack down on irregularities in the property market, banks in Shenzhen have recently been required to conduct a thorough vetting of home loan applicants, especially verifying the applicants’ incomes, divorce certificates and sources of down payments.

Several realty agencies in Shangmeilin and Jingtian said that they had recently stopped helping homebuyers forge bank records of incomes and divorce certificates.

Wang Qing, head of Midland Realty’s mortgage department in Shenzhen, said that the housing trade volume in Shenzhen has declined since the government imposed new home purchase restrictions earlier last month, while the number of home loan applicants is also in a slump.

According to a Centaline Property report, the new home transaction volume in Shenzhen dropped by 77 percent last month compared with September. The average price of pre-owned apartments saw a month-on-month decline of 4.2 percent to 56,790 yuan per square meter last month.

(Zhang Yang)