Residential Mortgage Survey Results for August 2003

Press Releases

29 Sep 2003

Residential Mortgage Survey Results for August 2003

New residential mortgage lending increased in August to an eleven-month high, according to the HKMA's monthly survey of residential mortgage lending, with the value of new loans drawn down during the month rising by 13.6% to HK$7.6 billion.

New approvals decreased by 32.3% following the strong growth in the previous month, with most of the reduction coming in primary market transactions. New applications also decreased, by 29.7%.

The proportion of new approvals priced at more than 2% below the best lending rate was 92.9%, up from 92.4% in July.

The outstanding amount of mortgage loans grew by 0.1% to HK$522.4 billion.

The mortgage delinquency ratio improved further to 1.09% from 1.10%, while the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at 0.55%. The combined ratio stood at about 1.65%1.

"The recovery in mortgage lending experienced in recent months continued into August," commented Mr William Ryback, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA. "At the same time, the mortgage delinquency ratio has continued to show a small but steady improvement."

New loans drawn down for purchasing properties in Mainland China decreased by 5.4% to HK$113 million. The amount of outstanding loans at end-August was HK$6.2 billion.

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Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
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Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 September 2003

Annex

Residential Mortgage Survey

Notes to Annex

  1. The Residential Mortgage Survey is a continuous monthly survey covering 25 authorized institutions in the banking industry. With effect from the position of August 2003, the number of authorized institutions participating in this survey is reduced to 25 from 27 due to consolidation in the banking industry.
  2. Residential mortgage loans (RMLs) in this survey are loans (including refinancing loans) to private individuals for the purchase of residential properties, including uncompleted units, but other than those properties under the Home Ownership Scheme, the Private Sector Participation Scheme and the Tenants Purchase Scheme.
  3. Gross new loans made are new mortgage loans drawn down during the surveyed month.
  4. New loans approved are mortgage loans approved during the surveyed month. The loans can either be drawn down in the same month or in the following months. Loans that are approved but not yet drawn, which have implications for the amount of gross new loans made in the following months, are shown under the item "New loans approved during month but not yet drawn".
  5. Delinquency ratio is measured by a ratio of total amount of overdue loans to total outstanding loans.
  6. Rescheduled loan ratio is measured by a ratio of total amount of rescheduled loans to total outstanding loans.
  7. Co-financing schemes refer to those schemes that involve provision of top-up finance by property developer(s) or other co-financier(s) in addition to mortgage loans advanced by authorized institutions. For loans associated with co-financing schemes, only the portion of loans advanced by reporting institutions is included in this survey.
  8. Average loan-to-value ratio and average contractual life for new loans approved during the surveyed month are average figures weighted by the amount of new loans approved during the surveyed month by individual reporting institutions.
  9. Loans written off over the past 12 months as a percentage of the average outstanding loans is calculated as: total value of loans written off during the past 12-month period as a percentage of the average outstanding loan value over the 12-month period [i.e. (opening + closing) , 2].

1 Not the sum of the two ratios, due to rounding.

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Last revision date : 29 September 2003