Residential Mortgage Survey Results for February 2008

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 2008 decreased by 22.3% to HK$18.4 billion.

New loans approved decreased by 20.2% to HK$23.5 billion. The decrease was distributed across all types of property transaction. Approvals for primary market transactions decreased by HK$1.1 billion or 41.7%, secondary market transactions by HK$4.7 billion or 20.0%, and refinancing loans by HK$0.1 billion or 2.8%. The number of new applications also decreased by 33.3%.

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate decreased to 89.0% from 90.6% in January, as the proportion of approvals for HIBOR-based loans¹ increased.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased by 0.8% to HK$569.9 billion.

The mortgage delinquency ratio edged up to 0.10% while the rescheduled loan ratio declined to 0.18%. The combined ratio remained unchanged at 0.28%.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
26 March 2008

¹ Mortgage loans priced with reference to Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rates.