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Residential Mortgage Survey Results for March 2011
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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 March 2011.

     New mortgage loans drawn down during March increased by 67.5% to HK$30.6 billion compared with February.  

     New loans approved in March rose by 43.5% to HK$43.5 billion.  Approvals for primary market transactions and secondary market transactions increased by HK$3.3 billion (134.8%) and HK$5.7 billion (25.1%) respectively, and those for refinancing transactions increased by HK$4.2 billion or 81.2%.  The number of new applications increased by 32.5% to 23,153.     

     The seasonal and low base effect of February, which is a short month and has the Chinese New Year holidays, may have contributed to the month-on-month increases.  In addition, following announcement of increases in mortgage rates by several banks in mid-March, some borrowers might have filed multiple applications with a view to obtaining the most favourable terms.  Such rate increases and the announcement of the implementation of the positive mortgage data sharing arrangement with effect from April01 might also have prompted some borrowers to file their mortgage applications within March.  

     Around 7% of the new mortgage loans approved in March were priced with reference to best lending rates, with the largest portion in the price range of 2% to less than 2.25%.  The proportion of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR decreased slightly to 91.7% from 92.0% in February.

     The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased by 0.8% to HK$761.7 billion.  

     The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.01% while the rescheduled loan ratio reduced to a record low of 0.03% in March.

Ends/Friday, April 29, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:12

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