The number of new mortgages in Hong Kong has fallen, with the government yet to reveal its concrete policies on housing and more new properties yet to be launched, according to media reports.
In H1 2012, new mortgages declined by 24.5 percent to 37,587 over the same period last year. At the same time, new loans fell by 2.3 percent month-on-month to 9,384 in June.
“Such downward adjustment will continue into July as the new government has not announced its concrete housing policies and more new properties are yet to come to the market,” said mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services.
“As mortgage rates and market share of small- to medium-sized banks and large banks are becoming similar, more attractive mortgage plans may be introduced by large banks in the second half of the year,” added the firm.
In addition, the number of equitable mortgages (loans for uncompleted property) rose 42.4 percent in H1 2012 from H2 2011 and grew by 57.1 percent month-on-month in June.
Meanwhile, Bank of China acquired the biggest market share of both equitable mortgages and mortgage loans in H1 2012, capturing over 20 percent of each segment.
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