Residential mortgage loans slump in August

New approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) given by banks slumped by 44.5 percent month-to-month in August to MOP3.2 billion. When compared with the same period of 2016, new approvals of RMLs decreased by 13.6 percent, according to statistics released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM). 

Commercial real estate loans (CRELs) decreased by 74.3 percent month-to-month to MOP2.8 billion, of which new CRELs to residents accounted for 97.8 percent of the total. Annually, new approvals of CRELs dropped by 62.3 percent, according to the AMCM.

As at the end of August 2017, the outstanding value of RMLs was MOP188.1 billion, up slightly by 0.1 percent from last month, or 5.7 percent from last year. The resident component made up 93.5 percent of the total.  When compared with the previous month, outstanding RMLs to residents and non-residents both experienced a slight increase by 0.1 percent.

The outstanding value of CRELs was MOP172.2 billion, virtually unchanged from a month ago, but up 1.3 percent year-on-year.  Loans to residents accounted for 89.2 percent of the loans. 

Regarding delinquency ratios, the delinquency ratio for RMLs at the end of August was 0.19 percent, up 0.02 percentage points from a month ago or 0.04 percentage points from a year earlier.  The ratio for CRELs was 0.14 percent, virtually unchanged from the preceding month but up 0.04 percentage points from the end of August 2016.