(Yicai Global) Nov. 10 -- The mortgage quota remains tight in the fourth quarter at banks in China's southern city of Guangzhou. Last month, one lender stopped providing mortgages while three lenders hiked their rate for first-time buyers to 20 percent above the benchmark interest rate.

Mortgage rates averaged 5.31 percent in the city in October, 1.08 times the benchmark. Among 23 banks surveyed by a statistics agency, one stopped providing mortgages, two offered the benchmark rate, while nine, eight and three lenders set rates at 5, 10 and 20 percent above the benchmark, respectively, Southern Daily, the official Guangdong Communist Party newspaper, reported today.

Second-home buyers averaged a 5.58-percent rate, with one, 10, four and seven lenders hiking rates to 5, 10, 15 and 20 percent more than the benchmark, respectively.

Most Guangzhou banks don't have a large enough lending quota this quarter. Buyers whose applications have already been approved now have to wait as long as three months before getting their payment, compared with the typical one month.

As the year comes to a close, banks are close to their lending ceiling, analysts said. The new year will see lenders with a refreshed quota and reduced demand for mortgages as the home rental market develops, alleviating pressure to stay within restrictions.