New mortgage lending picked up in November, according to the
HKMA's monthly survey of residential mortgage lending.
The amount of gross new loans made in November increased by
18.8% to HK$8.3 billion. However, the average size of new loans
decreased further to HK$1.17 million from HK$1.25 million in
October.
Reflecting in large part the good market response to the recent
launch of new residential projects, new loans approved during
November rose significantly by 48.9% to HK$12.1 billion. While the
biggest increase (89.7%) was attributable to approvals related to
the primary market, there were also increases in approvals related
to the secondary market (24.6%) and refinancings (29.0%). Loans
approved during November but not yet drawn increased by 46.0% to
HK$8.1 billion.
The average loan-to-value ratio of new loans approved moved up
to 65.3% in November from 63.7% in October. The average contractual
life lengthened to 222 months from 218 months. 99.2% of loans were
related to owner-occupied properties.
On the pricing front, 83.6% of new loans approved were priced at
more than 2% below the best lending rate, up from 80.2% in
October.
The amount of outstanding mortgage loans edged up by 0.1%
following a 0.2% decrease in November.
The loan delinquency ratio (measured by the ratio of mortgage
loans overdue for more than 3 months to total outstanding mortgage
loans) fell to 1.25% in November from 1.27% in October. The
rescheduled loan ratio (measured by the ratio of rescheduled
mortgage loans to total outstanding mortgage loans) increased to
0.25% in November from 0.24% in October.
"The historically low interest rates appear to have helped boost
property market activity as well as reduce pressure on the mortgage
delinquency ratio," said Mr David Carse, Deputy Chief Executive of
the HKMA.
Gross loans made for the purchase of properties in Mainland
China decreased to HK$86 million in November from HK$395 million in
October. The amount of outstanding loans decreased by HK$70 million
to HK$6.2 billion in November.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
28 December 2001
Annex
Notes to Annex
- The Residential Mortgage Survey is a
continuous monthly survey covering 29 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.
- Rescheduled loan ratio is measured by a ratio
of total amount of rescheduled 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.
