After increasing for three consecutive months, new mortgage
lending declined in September, according to the HKMA's monthly
survey of residential mortgage lending.
The amount of gross new loans made in September decreased by
31.8% to HK$8.0 billion. The average size of new loans decreased to
HK$1.32 million from HK$1.37 million in August.
New loans approved during September fell by a further 11.5% to
HK$8.4 billion due to declines in approval for all types of
property transaction. Loans approved during September but not yet
drawn also decreased, by 8.0% to HK$5.2 billion.
The average loan-to-value ratio of new loans approved edged down
to 63.9% from 64.1% in August. The average contractual life
shortened to 215 months from 217 months. 98.6% of loans were
related to owner-occupied properties.
On the pricing front, 80.5% of new loans approved were priced at
more than 2% below the best lending rate, up slightly from 79.7% in
August. New loans approved at more than 2.25% below the best
lending rate increased further to 62.4% from 57.6% in August.
The amount of outstanding mortgage loans grew by 0.1% following
a 0.6% increase in August.
The loan delinquency ratio (measured by the ratio of mortgage
loans overdue for more than 3 months to total outstanding mortgage
loans) remained unchanged at 1.28%.
"The September figures are indicative of the current lack of
activity in the residential property market", said Mr David Carse,
Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA. "This is being reflected in
continued downward pressure on lending margins."
Gross loans made for the purchase of properties in Mainland
China decreased to HK$48 million from HK$124 million in August. The
amount of outstanding loans decreased by HK$112 million to HK$6.0
billion in September.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 October 2001
Annex
Notes to Annex
- The Residential Mortgage Survey is a
continuous monthly survey covering 38 authorized institutions in
the banking industry.
- Residential mortgage loans 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,
Private Sector Participation Scheme and Tenants Purchase
Scheme.
- Gross new loans made are new mortgage loans
drawn down during the surveyed month.
- 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".
- Delinquency ratio is measured by a ratio of
total amount of overdue loans to total outstanding loans.
- 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 authorized
institutions is included in this survey.
- Average loan-to-value ratio and average contractual
life are average figures weighted by the amount of new
loans approved during the surveyed month by individual authorized
institutions.
