Banks deny halting home loans

Potential property buyers, meanwhile, said it's obvious that credit conditions for individual borrowers have tightened in Shanghai.

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"I haven't been able to secure a mortgage, and it's been three months since I found an apartment that I wish to buy. I've talked to staff at more than five banks, but they said it's unlikely I can get a loan before April," said 29-year-old Liu Qinghua.

Liu said no bank has told him that mortgage lending is suspended but, unlike the smooth process and interest rate discounts his brother experienced three years ago, Liu has to wait — and pay the full benchmark interest rate.

Some developers have offered price discounts of up to 20 percent in the past two weeks, sparking talk about whether housing prices will plunge in 2014.

Analysts said the discounts are mostly one-off cases and the projects involved aren't located in city centers.

Some developers may default on their debt as property trust loans worth about 350 billion yuan ($57.47 billion) mature this year, according to Jefferies Hong Kong Ltd.

Real estate mezzanine financing accounts for 10 to 20 percent of annual property investment, with trust firms and private equity funds contributing the most, China International Capital Corp analysts wrote on Monday.

Mezzanine financing in the property industry involves giving a loan to a developer while an affiliate of the bank buys a stake in the company and sells it back at a later date.

It is often structured in a way that makes it look like an equity investment rather than a loan. And it often bears relatively high interest rates.

The Chinese property market slowed in January as banks kept mortgage policies tight with no discounts.

Bloomberg News contributed to this story.

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