September 14, 2008
..."And the mortgage market in China does resemble the U.S.," according to Yongheng Deng, a professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development. Deng is a specialist in China's real estate and mortgage markets. "In the last two to three years, the mortgage market has grown in China. Before that it was cash," he said, "People would just show up with cash.
"In 1998, the first mortgages were written. Three years ago, the mortgage terms became standard. And now a range of mortgage types is available. Most of them are ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) with China's central bank setting the rate each year. It's not like the ARMs in the U.S., where the index for adjusting the rate relies on a number of economic factors."...