Approved mortgage loans drop 4.7% MoM in October

The drop was likely due to the decrease in applications during the same month.

Approved residential mortgage loans dropped 4.7% MoM to $32.5m in October, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) reported. 

The drop was likely due to the 16.6% MoM decrease in mortgage applications in the same month. There were 7,280 applications in October.

Of the total mortgage loans, $7.8b (+14.6% MoM) and $15.5b (-3% MoM) were used to finance primary and secondary market transactions, respectively.

The remaining $9.2b (-18.6% MoM) was used for refinancing.

After adding the October applications, the outstanding value of mortgage loans reached $1,798.9b, up 0.1% from September.

Meanwhile, mortgage loans drawn down in October dropped 18.6% MoM to $9.2b.