Residential Mortgage Survey Results for February 2007

Press Releases

23 Mar 2007

Residential Mortgage Survey Results for February 2007

According to the 23 authorized institutions (AIs) which participate in the HKMA's monthly survey of residential mortgage lending, new mortgage loans drawn down during February decreased by 30.5% to HK$7.8 billion, the lowest level since April 2006.

New loans approved fell by 17.0% to HK$10.4 billion. Primary market transactions fell by HK$0.5 billion (-21.7%), secondary market transactions by HK$1.0 billion (-12.7%) and refinancing loans by HK$0.6 billion (-26.8%). The number of new applications also decreased, by 20.8%.

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate increased to 62.1% from 61.6% in January, while the proportion of new approvals priced with reference to rates other than the best lending rate or fixed rates decreased to 32.9% from 33.4% over the same period.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans fell by 0.1% to HK$529.4 billion.

The mortgage delinquency ratio was stable at 0.18% in February. Although the rescheduled loan ratio rose to 0.27% from 0.26% in January, the combined ratio was little changed at 0.45%.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Sara Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
23 March 2007

Latest Press Releases
Last revision date : 23 March 2007