Chinese banks halt mortgage lending on limited quotas

More mainland banks have tightened mortgage lending extensions as their annual quotas run out and authorities ramp up restrictions on prices, South China Morning Post reported. A survey of 500 banks in 32 cities by Rong360, a private search engine for financial products, showed that around 17% of mainland banks had stopped extending mortgage loans to buyers of first and second homes this month, with more expected to follow suit by the end of the year. The trend first emerged last month in top-tier cities, and has now spread to 17 cities.