The value of Hong Kong’s new approved housing loans in February surged to HK$30.3 billion, up 8.2 percent from last month, according to data released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
The report added that new housing loans drawn down in Hong Kong dropped 15.9 percent from January, a total of HK$18.3 billion (US$2.35 billion) in February.
Approvals of loans for new properties in February climbed 26.5 percent (HK$500 million) from January and loan demand for mortgages on existing properties rose 9.9 percent (HK$2 billion).
Approvals for refinancing loans dropped to 4.5 percent (HK$200 million) from January.
The number of new housing applications declined by 10.2 percent to 17,478 cases, compared with 19,474 cases in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the outstanding value of mortgage loans in February climbed 1.3 percent to HK$755.8 billion.
The proportion of new mortgage loans priced with reference to Hong Kong interbank offered rates (HIBOR) fell slightly from 92.2 percent in January to 92 percent in February.
Both the mortgage delinquency ratio and the re-scheduled loan ratio in February remained flat at 0.01 percent and 0.04 percent respectively.