Residential mortgage loans down 6.3 pct in March

New approvals of residential mortgage loans registered a month-on-month decrease of 6.3 per cent in March, whilst commercial real estate loans more than doubled in the same month, the latest statistics released by the city’s Monetary Authority (AMCM) reveal. According to AMCM, new approvals of residential mortgage loans by local banks decreased to MOP4.9 billion (US$616 million) from MOP5.26 billion in February. Although this number represents a month-on-month drop, on a year-on-year comparison, it soared, in fact, by 40.5 per cent. Some 93.6 per cent of these new residential loans, amounting to MOP5.15 billion, were granted to local residents while non-residents received MO108 million-worth of home loans. In terms of value, however, new residential mortgage loans to residents posted a month-on-month decrease of 10.5 per cent, while those for non-residents surged 191.9 per cent month-on-month. In terms of type of real estate, MOP1.7 billio-worth of residential mortgages were granted for uncompleted units, an increase of 89.4 per cent month-on-month. Of equitable mortgages, those granted to residents accounted for 90.3 per cent of the total. Compared to the same period in 2014, the new equitable mortgage for uncompleted units represent a year-on-year jump of 1,379.5 per cent. Meanwhile, new approvals from commercial real estate loans increased to MOP9.7 billion in March from MOP4.7 billion the month before. Compared to the same period in 2014, the amount represents a growth of 3.8 per cent. Higher outstanding values During the month, the outstanding value of both residential loans and commercial mortgages registered month-on-month and year-on-year increases. The AMCM data indicates that the outstanding value for residential mortgage loans reached MOP159 million in March, which is an increase of 2 per cent from MOP155.9 million one month earlier. Moreover, compared to March 2014, the outstanding value in residential loans even soared 27.2 per cent year-on-year. The local residents’ component made up 94.1 per cent of the total outstanding value of such home loans, of which the value rose 1.9 per cent month-on-month. For non-residents, their outstanding value of residential loans climbed 3.1 per cent month-on-month. For commercial real estate loans, the outstanding value registered a year-on-year increase of 38.3 per cent or a month-on-month hike of 3.5 per cent, amounting to MOP132.2 billion. Residents accounted for 90.5 per cent of the loans, growing 5.3 per cent month-on-month, while loans to non-residents posted a month-on-month decline of 3.5 per cent. As at the end of March, the delinquency ratio for resident mortgage loans stood at 0.07 per cent, down a slight 0.01 percentage point from February. Meanwhile, the ratio for commercial loans was 0.06 per cent in the month, according to AMCM.