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According to the 23 authorised institutions (AIs) which participate in the HKMA's monthly survey of residential mortgage lending, new mortgage loans drawn down during March increased by 55.1% to HK$12.1 billion.
New loans approved rose by 57.4% to HK$16.3 billion. Primary market transactions rose by HK$0.9 billion (+49.6%), secondary market transactions by HK$3.2 billion (+47.1%) and refinancing loans by HK$1.8 billion (+105.4%). The number of new applications also increased, by 52.3%.
The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate increased to 73.2% from 62.1% in February, while the proportion of new approvals priced with reference to rates other than the best lending rate or fixed rates decreased to 22.4% from 32.9% over the same period.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased by 0.2% to HK$530.4 billion.
The mortgage delinquency ratio decreased to a record low of 0.17% from 0.18% in February. Together with the decline of the rescheduled loan ratio to 0.26% from 0.27% in February, the combined ratio decreased to a record low of 0.43% from 0.45% in February.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480
Ends/Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:48
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