The value of new mortgage loans approved in Hong Kong totalled HK$31 billion in December, up 11.3 percent from November, according to data released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
However, the value of new mortgage loans approved declined in December, down 23 percent to HK$28.9 billion from the previous month. Loans approved for new properties dropped 41.2 percent or HK$1.4 billion in December, while loan demand for existing properties fell 22.2 percent or by as much as HK$1.6 billion.
Meanwhile, approvals for refinancing mortgages dropped 18.2 percent or HK$1.6 billion from November. The number of new loan applications also fell by 37.5 percent to 14,416 cases, from November’s 23,060 cases.
The HKMA attributed the decline in new loan applications and approvals to the property cooling measures implemented on November 19 and warned of property-related lending risks.