Mortgage Rate Cuts Spread to China’s Wealthier Regions

A number of provincial capitals and other major Chinese cities have temporarily cut mortgage rates for first-time homebuyers as part of broader efforts to revive a real estate market that has been weighing on the world’s second-largest economy.

The rate cuts, which continued after the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday, are a sign that wealthier parts of the country are taking advantage of the policies as the latest round of cuts mostly took place in second-tier cities, unlike in the past when they were concentrated in smaller third- and fourth-tier cities.