*****************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the results of the residential mortgage survey for February 2016.
The number of mortgage applications in February decreased month-on-month by 24.4% to 4,869.
Mortgage loans approved in February decreased by 18.1% compared with January to HK$12.8 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 30% to HK$3.4 billion and those financing secondary market transactions decreased by 12.8% to HK$5.8 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing decreased by 12.6% to HK$3.6 billion.
Mortgage loans drawn down during February decreased by 16.2% compared with January to HK$10.5 billion.
The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates increased from 11.4% in January to 14.2% in February, with the majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR increased from 77.2% in January to 77.4% in February. The ratio of mortgage loans priced at fixed rates decreased from 7.5% in January to 7% in February.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.04% to HK$1,076 billion at end-February.
The mortgage delinquency ratio slightly increased to 0.04% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0%.
Ends/Thursday, March 31, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:12
NNNN
