The change of provident fund: the control tool returns to the guarantee attribute

Since the mortgage interest rate "changed to anchor" LPR, the "every move" of provident fund policies in various places has increasingly touched people's hearts.

The reporter of Time Weekly has not completely sorted out. 20 19 In the second half of the year, Hainan, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Changsha, Chengdu, Deyang, Neijiang, Yinchuan, Zhuzhou and Liuzhou introduced a new provident fund policy. On the whole, the new policies in various places have shown a trend of "different tightness". For example, the policies of Chengdu, Yinchuan and Zhuzhou are "widened", and it is proposed that the provident fund can be withdrawn by installing elevators. Guangzhou will extend the loan period for purchasing first-hand existing housing provident fund from 20 years to 30 years; Xiamen and Liuzhou, on the other hand, "tightened" and restricted or suspended loans from different places.

In addition, Guangxi, Changsha, Xiamen, Neijiang and Deyang have introduced measures to crack down on fraudulent loans; Hainan strengthens the management of second-hand housing provident fund loans and strengthens the evaluation report; Jiangsu has realized the direct transfer of housing provident fund in different places, which can be handled on the APP. In this regard, Li, the chief researcher of Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center, told Times Weekly that the recent provident fund loan policy is "fragmented" and the trend is inconsistent, and the characteristics of "policy for the city" are more obvious.

"In the past, as a policy tool for the property market, provident fund loans were often consistent with the adjustment of commercial bank loans. Commercial loans are tight, provident fund loans are tight, and vice versa. But recently, we have noticed some differences between the two, but this just shows that the regulation of the property market in China is becoming clearer and clearer: commercial loans stabilize the property market with financial attributes, while provident fund loans are more about returning to security attributes and supporting basic housing needs. " Li further stated.

? Broaden the scope of use of provident fund

The Times Weekly reporter noted that the scope of use of provident funds in some places has been broadened to a certain extent. For example, Chengdu, Yinchuan, Zhuzhou and other places suggest that residents can withdraw the provident fund to pay for the installation of elevators in old communities.

According to China's current Regulations on the Management of Housing Provident Fund, housing provident fund can only be applied for when employees buy, build, renovate or overhaul their own houses.

Wang, director of the Real Estate Institute of China Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with Times Weekly that in June this year, the State Council deployed to promote the renovation of old residential areas. The recent adjustment of the provident fund policy in some places not only supports the key work of the transformation of old residential areas, but also reflects the attempt and exploration to expand the scope of the use of provident fund. It is expected that the provident fund will play a further role in the renovation of old residential areas in the future.

In recent years, many places have made various explorations in the extraction of provident fund. For example, from August 2065438 to August 2008, Hangzhou implemented "eligible elevator owners can apply for housing provident fund and housing subsidies". In addition, with the idea of regulating the real estate market by both renting and purchasing, the provident fund is also actively supporting renting. In recent years, employees in many places can also withdraw provident fund by paying the rent of their own houses.

"From the current policy, the provident fund loans in various places are in line with the basic positioning of' housing and not speculating' and supporting just-needed." Li said, "For example, it is obvious that you can withdraw the provident fund by installing elevators in Chengdu and Yinchuan. In addition, optimizing handling and cracking down on fraudulent loans are also improving the provident fund loan business. "

"In some places, you can withdraw the provident fund by paying property management fees, extracting serious illnesses, and going to school for your children." Li added.

However, housing security is still the fundamental orientation of provident fund. "The provident fund should still be based on housing. In the process of exploration, all localities need to grasp the problem of' degree' and cannot expand the available scope too much, which is contrary to the original intention of the provident fund. " Li pointed out.

According to the data, as of 20 18, there were 14436+00000 employees paid into the national housing provident fund. Provident funds can cover more and more people. However, the problem of high threshold and low amount of provident fund has always been concerned by the public. Li said that the provident fund is a unique policy housing financial tool in China. Its cost is relatively low. How to use this low-cost fund efficiently and achieve the effect of housing security requires certain regulations and restrictions. If the housing provident fund is too open in terms of loans and withdrawals, and too much funds are distributed, its use efficiency and its function of supporting housing security will be limited.

However, many experts said that improving the efficiency of the use of provident fund is only a phased issue and will be solved in the future. Wang said: "With the further clarification of the central real estate market adjustment policy objectives, the functional orientation of the provident fund will be more clear, and the regulatory role of the provident fund in housing security will become more and more important. It is extremely urgent to improve the efficiency of the use of the provident fund."

? The property of housing security is prominent.

With the gradual deepening of China's real estate regulation and control policies, commercial loans and provident fund loans show differentiated development: commercial loans strictly regulate the real estate market with financial attributes, while provident fund loans continue to return to security attributes to meet basic housing needs.

On September 5th, China Merchants Bank first tried to link the interest rate of individual housing loans with LPR in Shenzhen. The specific measures are as follows: based on the LPR published on August 20th, the first set will be increased by 30 basis points, and the second set by 60 basis points, so as to form the personal housing loan interest rate. Finally, the first set of mortgage interest rate is 5. 15%, and the second set of mortgage interest rate is 5.45%, which is 5 BP and 60 BP higher than the previous interest rate respectively.

In addition to China Merchants Bank, which has been in line with LPR, mortgage interest rates in some hot second-tier cities have also entered a "rebound" stage. Suzhou's first home loan interest rate generally rose by 23% in July according to the benchmark interest rate, and Nanchang and Zhengzhou's first home loan interest rates generally rose by 20%.

Concerns about the increase in interest expenses on home purchases began to appear. But at the same time, the housing fund management center of the central state organs made it clear that "the interest rate of provident fund loans will not be adjusted for the time being", and also made it clear that the interest rate of the first set of housing provident fund loans is the benchmark interest rate. 1? Five-year 2.75%, 6? 30 years is 3.25%; The interest rate of the second set of housing provident fund loans is 10%, 1? The five-year period is 3.025%, 6? The 30-year period is 3.575%.

The provident fund policies in many places have also been adjusted, and some achievements have been made in optimizing the withdrawal and improvement of loans, indicating that the role of provident fund in supporting the just-needed needs has not changed. These undoubtedly gave the public a "reassuring".

"Relatively speaking, commercial loans have a greater impact on individual housing loans, so the adjustment of commercial loan policies has a more obvious regulatory effect on housing demand, and provident fund is only an auxiliary means of regulation. Moreover, from a functional point of view, the housing provident fund mainly guarantees the basic purchase of houses and related expenses, which belongs to the people's livelihood service category. " Xia Dan, a senior researcher at the Bank of Communications Financial Research Center, explained to the Times Weekly reporter that in the recent adjustment, the role of provident fund loans in regulating the property market is not obvious.

Wang even stressed that this is the return of the guarantee attribute of the housing provident fund policy.

"In the past, the housing provident fund was used as a tool for market regulation, which weakened the housing security attribute of the provident fund policy and made it a tool for market regulation. As' housing is not speculation', paying equal attention to commodity rail and security rail has become an important logic of China's real estate market regulation, and the housing security function has also begun to be strengthened. At present, the adjustment of provident fund policies in various places is also in line with this logic and returns to the housing security function. " Wang said in an interview with Times Weekly.