Five Things to Know About Early Mortgage Repayments in China

Some mortgage holders in China are tapping their savings to pay off home loans ahead of schedule, feeling the pinch of the high interest rates they took on in years past while borrowing costs for new homebuyers have been falling since last year.

One economist has estimated that last year some 4.7 trillion yuan ($700 billion) worth of mortgages — 12% of China’s outstanding total — were paid off early.