Residential mortgage loans in negative equity: End of June 2026
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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (July 31) the results of its survey on residential mortgage loans (RMLs) in negative equity at end-June 2026.
The estimated number of RMLs in negative equity was 4 356 cases at end-June 2026, down by 61.9 per cent from 11 424 cases at end-March 2026. These cases were mainly related to bank staff housing loans or RMLs under mortgage insurance programme, which generally have a higher loan-to-value ratio.
The aggregate value of RMLs in negative equity decreased by 64.4 per cent to HK$19.6 billion at end-June 2026, compared with HK$55 billion at end-March 2026.
The unsecured portion of these loans decreased to HK$0.9 billion at end-June 2026 from HK$2.8 billion at end-March 2026.
The three-month delinquency ratio of RMLs in negative equity increased to 1.25 per cent at end-June 2026 from 0.5 per cent at end-March 2026, as the aggregate value of RMLs in negative equity fell at a faster pace than the aggregate value of delinquent RMLs in negative equity.
It is important to note that the figures derived from this survey relate only to RMLs provided by authorised institutions on the basis of first mortgages and which the reporting institution knows to be in negative equity (i.e. the outstanding loan amount with the reporting institution exceeds the current market value of the mortgaged property). Not included in these figures are RMLs associated with co-financing schemes which would be in negative equity if the second mortgages were taken into account. The extent to which such RMLs are in negative equity is not known because authorised institutions do not maintain records on the outstanding balances of the second mortgages.
The mortgage portfolios of the surveyed authorised institutions represent about 99 per cent of the industry total. The survey results have been extrapolated to estimate the position of the banking sector as a whole.
Ends/Friday, July 31, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:30
Issued at HKT 16:30
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