HONG KONG – The value of residential mortgage loans approved in August this year was HK$28.7 billion, a 6.3 percent decrease compared with July, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The number of mortgage applications in August fell month-on-month by 6.7 percent to 8,405, data released on Tuesday show.

Of the approved mortgage loans, those financing primary market transactions decreased by 0.7 percent to HK$10.7 billion, while loans financing secondary market transactions fell by 11.9 percent to HK$14.6 billion.

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Meanwhile, mortgage loans for refinancing increased by 4.1 percent to HK$3.3 billion in August.

According to the HKMA data, mortgage loans drawn down in the month increased by 4.5 percent compared with July to HK$19 billion.

The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to the Hong Kong Inter-bank Offered Rate, or HIBOR, decreased from 95.7 percent in July to 94.4 percent in August. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to the best lending rates increased from 1.2 percent in July to 1.3 percent in the following month.

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The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.1 percent to HK$1,888.3 billion at end-August.

Meanwhile, the mortgage delinquency ratio stood at a low level of 0.13 percent, and the rescheduled loan ratio was unchanged at nearly 0 percent.