Three commercial banks in Beijing have abolished the 15 percent interest rate discount on first housing loans, the Beijing Times reported Tuesday.

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Pudong Development Bank, Everbright Bank and China Minsheng Bank have all recently called off the loan preferences, the report said, without specifying the exact date.

Employees at Pudong Development Bank's Beijing branch told the newspaper that although the discounts on first-house buyers have been called off, the bank was still receiving housing-loan requests.

Meanwhile, at other banks, such as China Citic Bank, Shenzhen Development Bank and China Merchants Bank, the preference still applies. However, most banks' discounts are shrinking, the report said.

One employee at a State-owned commercial bank told this reporter that not every client could get the 15-percent interest rate discount, because the auditing on applications was very strict.

In addition, Zhang Dawei, from the Centaline Property Agency, predicts that the loan policies are likely to be tightened after the Chinese New Year.