China homebuyers rush online to finance downpayments

Beijing

QIAN Kaishen and his wife almost gave up in August on buying a bigger home. As apartments at Shanghai Villa, a project they liked near the city's Hongqiao Airport, started selling, the money they had saved for the deposit was tied up in a 5 per cent-return investment.

Then property agency E-House China Holdings Ltd offered the couple a 280,000 yuan (S$58,755) one-year bridge loan at zero interest. The loan came from online investors through E-House's Internet finance website. It covered about half the downpayment and was just enough to make up the shortfall.

"Now we're good both on our investment and home purchase plan," Mr Qian, 31, who works for a local logistics company, said by phone from Shanghai. "We would'v…