The Hong Kong Monetary Authority released its residential mortgage survey for February 2026, showing month-on-month falls in mortgage applications, approvals and loan drawdowns, while the outstanding mortgage book edged higher and delinquency indicators remained low. Mortgage applications fell 7.5% from January to 8,125 and approved mortgage loans declined 10.8% to HKD 29 billion, driven by a 24% drop in primary market approvals to HKD 8.6 billion and a 6.1% fall in secondary market approvals to HKD 17.2 billion, partly offset by a 10.7% rise in refinancing approvals to HKD 3.2 billion. Loans drawn down decreased 24.4% to HKD 16.4 billion. The share of new mortgages priced with reference to HIBOR declined to 87.5% from 89.5%, while pricing with reference to best lending rates increased to 1.9% from 1.5%. Outstanding mortgage loans rose 0.2% to HKD 1,926.3 billion at end-February, with the mortgage delinquency ratio at 0.13% and the rescheduled loan ratio unchanged at nearly 0%.
2026-03-31Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Hong Kong Monetary Authority publishes February 2026 residential mortgage survey showing declines in applications and approvals
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority published its February 2026 residential mortgage survey, reporting month-on-month declines in mortgage applications, approvals and loan drawdowns, while the outstanding mortgage book continued to edge higher and delinquency indicators remained low. Total approved mortgage loans fell 10.8% to HKD 29 billion and loans drawn down dropped 24.4% to HKD 16.4 billion, as primary and secondary market approvals weakened and refinancing approvals rose.