BEIJING / RankWire.AI / – China kept its primary lending rates steady in September, with the one-year loan prime rate remaining at 3.0%. The over-five-year LPR stayed at 3.5%, according to the official rate set on September 20. Many lenders reference this longer-term rate for mortgage calculations. This decision preserved both benchmarks at their August levels.
The People’s Bank of China authorized the National Interbank Funding Center to publish the September loan prime rates, which will stay in effect until the next scheduled LPR update. The one-year LPR serves as a key reference for numerous corporate and household loans, while the over-five-year rate is pivotal for mortgage and other long-term financing arrangements.
Alongside these stable rates, new economic data on lending, housing, and consumer prices was released. China’s consumer price index in August increased by 0.8% compared to the same month last year, with a 0.4% rise from July. These figures offer insight into current inflation trends, with the September benchmarks remaining unchanged.
Mortgage rate remains fixed at 3.5%
Data from China’s housing market continue to show significant variation across different cities and segments. In August, new home prices in first-tier cities saw a 0.1% increase from July. Shanghai experienced a 0.4% rise, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen gained 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Conversely, Beijing recorded a 0.2% decline in the same period.
During the first eight months of 2026, real estate investment reached 4.798 trillion yuan, reflecting a 19.9% drop from the same interval in the previous year. Residential investments fell 19.7% to 3.702 trillion yuan, while sales of newly constructed commercial properties declined by 13.0%, totaling 4.747 trillion yuan.
Latest property and credit figures reaffirm current LPR levels
From January through August, commercial property sales based on floor area amounted to 498.8 million square meters, a 12.1% decrease compared to the previous year. Residential sales area also fell by 13.0%, with sales value dropping by 13.1%. Property developers’ individual mortgage loans totaled 684.6 billion yuan, down 22.4% during this period.
By the end of August, China’s total social financing stood at 464.8 trillion yuan, representing a 7.2% increase year-on-year. Loans to the real economy, denominated in Renminbi, reached 278.63 trillion yuan, up 5.0% annually. Within the social financing stock, government bonds amounted to 103.69 trillion yuan, reflecting a 13.5% rise. Given this backdrop, the September one-year LPR remains at 3.0%, and the over-five-year mortgage rate stays at 3.5%.