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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA):
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 loans* 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%.
* Mortgage loans priced with reference to Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rates.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1802
Ends/Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:31
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