The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from Hong Kong Monetary Authority, HK

According to the 23 authorized institutions (AIs) which participate in the HKMA''s monthly survey of residential mortgage lending, new mortgage loans drawn down during December increased by 32.7% to HK$14.0 billion, the highest level in 18 months.

New loans approved, however, decreased by 14.9% to HK$13.3 billion. Decreases were seen in all types of market transactions. In value terms, primary market transactions decreased by HK$0.7 billion (-15.6%), secondary market transactions by HK$0.7 billion (-9.0%) and refinancing loans by HK$0.9 billion (-26.0%). The number of new applications decreased by 22.2%.

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate increased to 61.0% from 54.8% in November, while the proportion of new approvals priced with reference to rates other than the best lending rate or fixed rates decreased to 34.2% from 40.3% over the same period.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans rose by 0.6% to HK$529.4 billion.

The mortgage delinquency ratio edged up to 0.20% from 0.19% in November. With the rescheduled loan ratio decreasing to 0.26% from 0.28%, the combined ratio improved to 0.46% from 0.47% a month earlier.

Available at:

http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/press/index.htm