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%.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority 2026-03-31
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.