Beware of easy home loans

The news that a Hong Kong property developer is offering up to 100 percent home loans for nine of its residential developments sounds too good to be true. Soaring property prices, combined with a government-initiated 70 percent ceiling on most mortgage loans by banks, have combined to shut many ordinary people out of the market. The idea of home ownership has, for many people, moved from the realm of ambition to that of fantasy. Borrowers should beware that property developers, while happy to appeal to the dream of would-be home owners, operate their business in a more down-to-earth manner.

--South China Morning Post, Hong Kong