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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 March 2014.
Mortgage loans drawn down during March increased by 8.8% compared with February to HK$13.5 billion.
Mortgage loans approved in March increased by 23.7% compared with February to HK$19.3 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 2.3% to HK$5.7 billion and those financing secondary market transactions increased by 42% to HK$10.3 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing also increased by 30.7% to HK$3.3 billion.
The number of mortgage applications in March increased month-on-month by 30.8% to 9 416.
New mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates decreased from 43.7% in February to 39.7% in March with majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. New mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR increased from 54.8% in February to 58.9% in March.
The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.4% to HK$914.6 billion at end-March.
The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.02% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0%.
Ends/Friday, April 25, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:50
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