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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 February 2013.
Mortgage loans drawn down during February decreased by 23.0% compared with January to HK$12.2 billion.
Mortgage loans approved in February decreased by 12.3% compared with January to HK$18.6 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 8.4% to HK$3.0 billion and those financing secondary market transactions decreased by 11.8% to HK$12.9 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing decreased by 18.1% to HK$2.7 billion.
The number of mortgage applications in February decreased by 24.5% month-on-month to 9,013.
New mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates decreased from 90.3% in January to 86.4% in February, with majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. New mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR increased from 7.4% in January to 11.4% in February.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.4% to HK$877.0 billion at end-February.
The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.01% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at 0.01%.
Ends/Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:30
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