Hong Kong mortgage drawdowns spike in July

The results of the HKMA’s July residential mortgage survey, released yesterday, show the total value of new mortgages drawn down at HK$27.7 billion (AU$5.0 billion), up from HK$19.3 billion (AU$3.5 billion) in June.

The survey results show the number of mortgage applications in July decreased month-on-month by 13.5 per cent to 10,139.

Mortgage loans approved in July decreased by 8.8 per cent compared with June to HK$27.2 billion (AU$4.9 billion). Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 24.6 per cent to HK$6.5 billion (AU$1.2 billion) and those financing secondary market transactions increased by 0.6 per cent to HK$15.9 billion (AU$2.9 billion).

Mortgage loans for refinancing decreased by 11 per cent to HK$4.8 billion (AU$0.9 billion).

The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates increased from 11.7 per cent in June to 11.9 per cent in July, with the majority priced within the range of 2.0 per cent and 2.25 per cent. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR decreased from 85.8 per cent in June to 84.5 per cent in July.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 1.3 per cent to HK$1,044.2 billion (AU$189.4 billion) at the end of July.

The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.03 per cent and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0 per cent.