Cheung Wan: Mortgage loans in Hong Kong increased by 18% in January, with the adoption rate rising to 93%

Wang Meifeng, Managing Director of Zhongyuan Mortgage, stated that according to the latest residential mortgage statistics from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the number of new mortgage loans and the amount in January 2025 both saw a significant month-on-month increase of 16% and 17.6% respectively, reaching 3,438 loans and HKD 15.6 billion. The number of loans has been increasing for three consecutive months, reaching a new high in the past four months, while the amount has been increasing for two consecutive months, reaching a new high in the past five months. This mainly reflects the increase in favorable factors since the fourth quarter of 2024, indicating a stabilizing situation in the Hong Kong property market. In addition, the number of new mortgage applications increased by 3.3% to 6,516 loans. On the other hand, the number of newly approved mortgage loans in January decreased by 5.7% month-on-month to 5,039 loans, and the amount decreased slightly by 2.2% to HKD 25 billion. Wang Meifeng expects that due to the increasing favorable factors since the fourth quarter of 2024, the interest rate cuts by banks last year, the continued interest rate reduction in 2025, the relaxation of mortgage policies, the stabilized pace of local economic recovery in Hong Kong, and the continued stimulus measures in mainland China, the Hong Kong property market has gradually stabilized and improved this year. The sales performance of new properties is ideal, and the atmosphere in the second-hand property market is warming up. The recent significant reduction in stamp duty for new financial cases in property transactions has brought further good news to the market. Together with further optimization of the investment immigration policy, it is believed that this will support the steady and positive development of the Hong Kong property market and drive the mortgage market towards improvement. According to the latest statistics from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in January 2025, the amount of new mortgage loans decreased by 2.1% month-on-month to HKD 25 billion. The amount of new loans for first-hand properties increased by 15.5% to HKD 10 billion, while the amount of new loans for second-hand properties decreased by 11.7% to HKD 12.2 billion. The amount of refinanced loans decreased by 8.8% to HKD 2.9 billion during the period. In terms of mortgage schemes, Wang Meifeng pointed out that after the introduction of fixed-rate mortgage plans by major banks last year, the usage rate of fixed-rate mortgages increased from 0% to 1.8%. In January, the figure fell back to 0.4%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to December 2024. The usage rate was not high. In February, major banks reintroduced low-interest fixed-rate mortgage plans. Compared to the fixed-rate mortgage plans last year, the attractiveness was higher. However, with no other banks in the market following suit with similar plans, it is expected that the usage rate of fixed-rate mortgage plans will increase slightly later, but the increase will not be significant.