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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 2012.
Mortgage loans drawn down during October increased by 4.1% compared with September to HK$19 billion.
Mortgage loans approved in October increased by 10.3% compared with September to HK$24.7 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions increased by 42.5% to HK$3.9 billion and those financing secondary market transactions increased by 6.8% to HK$17.8 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing remained unchanged at HK$3 billion.
The number of mortgage applications in October increased by 7.1% month-on-month to 13,098.
New mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates decreased from 94.4% in September to 93.1% in October, with majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. New mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR increased from 2.9% in September to 4.5% in October.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.7% to HK$848.1 billion at end-October.
In October, the mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.01% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at 0.01%.
Ends/Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:25
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