Mortgage delinquency ratio drops to record low in HK

HONG KONG, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mortgage delinquency ratio in Hong Kong dropped to 0.11 percent and rescheduled loan ratio fell to 0.2 percent, both record lows, driving the combined ratio lower to 0.32 percent, according to a report released Monday.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which virtually serves as the central bank in the special administrative region in south China, also found in the monthly survey that new mortgage loans drawn down rose 17.5 percent to 18.7 billion HK dollars (2.4 billion U.S. dollars).

New loans approved surged 20.5 percent to 27.7 billion HK dollars (3.55 billion U.S. dollars) in the city, which has seen its real properties industry rebounding since 2003, when the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak, coupled with other elements, drove the economy and the properties industry to the bottom.

The rise was attributed to more approvals for secondary market transactions, which more than offset the drop in approvals for primary market transactions and refinancing loans, the report said.

Approvals for secondary-market transactions grew 39.4 percent to 21.9 billion HK dollars (2.81 billion U.S. dollars), primary- market transactions fell 33.4 percent to 2.7 billion HK dollars (0. 35 billion U.S. dollars), and refinancing loans dropped 3.3 percent to 3 billion HK dollars (0.38 billion U.S. dollars).

The number of new applications rose 3.9 percent, the report said.

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5 percent below the best lending rate decreased to 90.9 percent from 94 percent in October. The outstanding value of mortgage loans rose 0. 9 percent to 554.6 billion HK dollars (71.1 billion U.S. dollars).

Twenty-three authorized institutions participated in the monthly survey.