Hong Kong Mortgage Applications Drop 16.1% in May 2024, HKMA Reports

The
Hong
Kong
Monetary
Authority
(HKMA)
has
released
the
residential
mortgage
survey
results
for
May
2024,
revealing
a
significant
decline
in
mortgage
applications.
According
to
the
HKMA,
the
number
of
mortgage
applications
decreased
by
16.1%
month-on-month,
totaling
8,077
applications.

Increase
in
Mortgage
Loans
Approved

Despite
the
drop
in
applications,
mortgage
loans
approved
in
May
saw
an
8.8%
increase
compared
to
April,
reaching
HK$31.6
billion.
Notably,
mortgage
loans
for
primary
market
transactions
rose
by
3.7%
to
HK$11.5
billion,
while
those
for
secondary
market
transactions
climbed
by
14.9%
to
HK$17.6
billion.
However,
mortgage
loans
for
refinancing
experienced
a
decline
of
4.8%,
amounting
to
HK$2.5
billion.

Drawn
Down
Mortgage
Loans
Surge

In
May,
the
amount
of
mortgage
loans
drawn
down
surged
by
27%
compared
to
the
previous
month,
reaching
HK$16.5
billion.
This
indicates
a
robust
uptake
in
the
actual
disbursement
of
approved
loans.

Shifts
in
Loan
Pricing

There
was
a
slight
shift
in
the
pricing
of
new
mortgage
loans.
The
ratio
of
new
mortgage
loans
priced
with
reference
to
the
Hong
Kong
Interbank
Offered
Rate
(HIBOR)
decreased
marginally
from
93%
in
April
to
92%
in
May.
Conversely,
the
ratio
of
new
mortgage
loans
priced
with
reference
to
best
lending
rates
increased
from
2.2%
in
April
to
3.5%
in
May.

Outstanding
Mortgage
Loans
and
Delinquency
Ratios

The
outstanding
value
of
mortgage
loans
saw
a
minor
month-on-month
increase
of
0.2%,
amounting
to
HK$1,856.1
billion
at
the
end
of
May.
Both
the
mortgage
delinquency
ratio
and
the
rescheduled
loan
ratio
remained
stable,
with
the
former
at
0.09%
and
the
latter
near
0%.

For
more
detailed
information,
the
full
report
can
be
accessed
through
the
official
HKMA
website

here.

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source:
Shutterstock