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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 2015.
The number of mortgage applications in August decreased month-on-month by 5% to 9,630.
Mortgage loans approved in August decreased by 11.8% compared with July to HK$24 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 9.1% to HK$5.9 billion and those financing secondary market transactions decreased by 14.3% to HK$13.6 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing decreased by 7.2% to HK$4.5 billion.
Mortgage loans drawn down during August decreased by 15.3% compared with July to HK$23.5 billion.
The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates decreased from 11.9% in July to 11.8% in August, with the majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR decreased from 84.5% in July to 82.7% in August.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 1% to HK$1,054.9 billion at end-August.
The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.03% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0%.
Ends/Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:35
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