Residential and commercial loan approvals drop

Both the new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and of commercial real estate loans (CRELs) decreased in July 2016, according to statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macao. With regard to the outstanding balance, both RMLs and CRELs witnessed monthly increases.
In July, new RMLs, approved by Macau’s banks, decreased by 25.7 percent month-to-month to MOP 3.5 billion. Those granted to residents, accounting for more than 98 percent of the total, fell by 5.7 percent, while those to non-residents shrank by 94 percent. When compared with the same period in 2015, new approvals of RMLs decreased by 16.5 percent overall.
Meanwhile, new CRELs shrank by 45.8 percent month-to-month to MOP 3.5 billion, of which 62.6 percent was granted to residents. In terms of value, new CRELs to residents and non-residents dropped by 50.2 percent and 36.5 percent respectively. On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs declined by 72.2 percent.
At the end of July 2016, the outstanding value of RMLs amounted to MOP 177.2 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent from one month earlier and of 6.1 percent from a year ago. The resident component made up 93.6 percent of the total. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs rose by 0.3 percent month-to-month or 15 percent year-on-year to MOP 169.9 billion, of which the resident component accounted for 87.5 percent.
At the end of July, the delinquency ratio for RMLs was 0.12 percent, up 0.03
percentage points from a month ago or 0.06 percentage points from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the ratio for CRELs was 0.03 percent, up 0.01 percentage points from a month ago but down 0.02 percentage points from end-July 2015.