Housing Provident Fund Lending Ratios of Major Chinese Cities Hit a Stable Average of 65% in First Half of 2026
According to Securities Daily, Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute released compiled data on 9 July, calculated from figures disclosed by 26 key cities for the first half of the year, mostly covering end-March or May readings. The average individual loan ratio across these urban housing provident fund systems stands at 65 per cent, sitting midway within the widely recognised balanced operating band of 60 to 80 per cent. The metric reflects steady overall liquidity within the housing provident fund pool, striking a balanced position between backing residential housing consumption and safeguarding capital security.
The individual loan ratio measures outstanding personal mortgage lending funded by housing provident funds against total accumulated deposits held within the scheme, acting as a core gauge of capital utilisation efficiency for the national housing support framework. Industry analysis confirms the 65 per cent national average signals orderly and stable fund operations across major cities. Industry figures interviewed by Securities Daily note that the current reading demonstrates the scheme’s capacity to balance three core objectives: meeting residents’ legitimate housing purchase demand, sustaining stable market conditions for residential real estate, and preserving full capital safety, laying solid liquidity foundations for subsequent systemic reforms to the housing provident fund mechanism.
Breakdowns across the 26 surveyed cities reveal clear tiered distribution of loan utilisation levels. Twenty cities register ratios falling inside the 60–80 per cent balanced bracket, accounting for approximately 77 per cent of the sample cohort. Five cities record ratios ranging from 50 to 60 per cent, making up 19 per cent of the total, while merely one city posts a reading below 50 per cent, representing four per cent of all tracked urban jurisdictions.
Cities with comparatively low individual loan ratios hold ample residual deposit reserves, creating scope to lift overall capital utilisation efficiency. Local housing provident fund authorities can roll out tailored policy adjustments aligned with domestic property market fundamentals. Adjustment measures include moderate uplifts to maximum mortgage borrowing limits, refined down-payment support criteria for homebuyers, and expansion of eligible spending categories under the provident fund scheme. Such calibrated moves unlock latent residential consumption demand and channel idle accumulated deposits into livelihood-focused housing expenditure.
Reforms to the housing provident fund framework continue to broaden the scope of eligible spending purposes across regional jurisdictions. Support previously limited to home purchase mortgages has been extended to rental housing payments, retrofitting works on ageing residential compounds and domestic renovation costs, expanding the full-spectrum housing security functions delivered by the deposit scheme.
Data tracked by China Index Academy, shared with Securities Daily, records more than 270 local policy revisions targeting housing provident fund systems issued nationwide so far this year. These adjustments widen the range of permitted fund withdrawals and extend the population coverage of deposit participation. Systematic overhauls to the housing provident fund framework remain a core policy priority for regional governance bodies. Additional local policy optimisation packages will be rolled out across numerous cities, alongside trials of new eligible use cases for accumulated provident fund balances.
Existing liquidity conditions across the 26 major cities confirm untapped capacity for the housing provident fund system to deliver expanded market support. Ongoing improvements to capital deployment efficiency will reinforce institutional backing for residents’ reasonable housing consumption requirements, establishing robust systemic safeguards for steady, sound development within the domestic residential property sector.
Local housing provident fund management bodies will keep refining differentiated policy tools suited to local market cycles. Digital administration platforms and cross-city mutual recognition of deposit and borrowing records will be expanded nationwide, streamlining application procedures for mortgage and withdrawal services. Continuous expansion of eligible fund usage scenarios will maximise the value of accumulated provident fund deposits to satisfy diversified residential living demands across all population groups.
