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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the results of the residential mortgage survey for April 2016.
The number of mortgage applications in April increased month-on-month by 18.4% to 8 816.
Mortgage loans approved in April increased by 28.4% compared with March to HK$19.8 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions increased by 19.3% to HK$3.7 billion and those financing secondary market transactions increased by 37.3% to HK$11 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing increased by 18.1% to HK$5 billion.
Mortgage loans drawn down during April decreased by 30.9% compared with March to HK$10.5 billion.
The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates decreased from 12.6% in March to 7.5% in April, with the majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR increased from 76.1% in March to 84.2% in April. The ratio of mortgage loans priced at fixed rates decreased from 9.2% in March to 6.2% in April.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans decreased month-on-month by 0.1% to HK$1,078.8 billion at end-April.
The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.04% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0%.
Ends/Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:36
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