Mortgage loans dropped 8.5% to $14.5b in August

Here's how each segment fared.

Mortgage loan approvals in August fell 8.5% month-on-month to $14.5 billion, the Monetary Authority announced today.

Among the mortgage loans approved, those for primary market transactions rose 44.5% to $1.6 billion and those for secondary market transactions dropped 16.9% to $9.9 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing increased 5% to $3 billion.

Mortgage loans drawn down during the month decreased 5.9% month-on-month to $11.5 billion.

The number of mortgage applications in August fell 4.5% month-on-month to 8,043.

New mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates increased from 56.6% in July to 69.9% in August, with the majority priced within the range of 2% and 2.25%. Those priced with reference to HIBOR decreased from 39.9% to 27.9%.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.1% to $899.6 billion at the end of August.

The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.02% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0%.