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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the results of the residential mortgage survey for August 2012.
Mortgage loans drawn down during August increased by 1.9% compared with July to HK$16.4 billion.
Mortgage loans approved in August increased by 29% compared with July to HK$25.2 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 5% to HK$4.1 billion and those financing secondary market transactions increased by 42.8% to HK$18.1 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing increased by 17.6% to HK$3 billion.
The number of mortgage applications in August increased by 31.8% month-on-month to 14,023.
In August, 93% of mortgage loans were priced with reference to best lending rates, similar to that in July. The majority of mortgage loans in August were priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. New mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR decreased from 4.5% in July to 3.9% in August.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.7% to HK$833.9 billion at end-August.
In August, the mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.01% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at 0.01%.
Ends/Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:25
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