BEIJING / RankWire.AI / – China kept its key lending rates steady in September, holding the one-year loan prime rate at 3.0%. The over-five-year LPR also remained unchanged at 3.5%, based on the official September 20 fixing. Many lenders reference this longer-term rate for mortgage calculations. This decision maintained both benchmarks at August levels.
The People’s Bank of China instructed the National Interbank Funding Center to publish the September LPR figures. These rates stay valid until the next scheduled release. As a major reference for numerous corporate and household loans, the one-year LPR influences lending, while the over-five-year rate primarily guides mortgage and long-term borrowing prices.
These steady rates are accompanied by recent economic data covering lending, housing, and consumer prices. In August, China’s consumer price index increased by 0.8% compared to the previous year, with a 0.4% rise from July. These figures offer a snapshot of current price trends amid unchanged lending benchmarks for September.
Mortgage benchmark remains at 3.5%
Housing market data reveal significant variation across cities and sectors. In August, new home prices in first-tier cities increased by 0.1% from July. Shanghai experienced a 0.4% rise, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen saw gains of 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Conversely, Beijing experienced a 0.2% decline during that month.
Real estate investment during the first eight months of 2026 amounted to 4.798 trillion yuan, marking a 19.9% decrease compared to the same period last year. Residential investments dropped 19.7% to 3.702 trillion yuan, while sales of new commercial properties totaled 4.747 trillion yuan, down 13.0% year-on-year.
Latest property and credit figures contextualize current LPR rates
From January to August, commercial property sales by floor area reached 498.8 million square meters, a 12.1% decline from the previous year. Residential sales area fell 13.0%, with the sales value decreasing by 13.1%. Property developers’ individual mortgage loans totaled 684.6 billion yuan, showing a 22.4% reduction during this period.
China’s total social financing stood at 464.8 trillion yuan at August’s end, a 7.2% increase from a year earlier. Loans in Renminbi to the real economy totaled 278.63 trillion yuan, up 5.0% annually. The stock of government bonds within social financing reached 103.69 trillion yuan, a 13.5% rise. Against this background, the September one-year LPR remains at 3.0%, and the over-five-year mortgage rate stays at 3.5%.