****************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the results of the residential mortgage survey for October 2015.
The number of mortgage applications in October decreased month-on-month by 17.1% to 6,533.
Mortgage loans approved in October decreased by 19.3% compared with September to HK$17 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 25.7% to HK$4.2 billion and those financing secondary market transactions decreased by 22.3% to HK$8.3 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing decreased by 4.6% to HK$4.4 billion.
Mortgage loans drawn down during October decreased by 7.3% compared with September to HK$18.8 billion.
The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates increased from 11.8% in September to 14.8% in October, with the majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR decreased from 82% in September to 79.2% in October.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.6% to HK$1,068.3 billion at end-October.
The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.03% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0%.
Ends/Monday, November 30, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:12
NNNN