Activity in residential mortgage loans rose in February, with new loans drawn down rising 31.5% to a 20-month high of $9.5 billion.

The Monetary Authority's monthly survey of residential mortgage lending found new approvals in February were up 31.7% to $12.6 billion and in number terms by 18.2% to 8,041 cases.

The growth of secondary market transactions was particularly strong, rising 45.5% in value terms and 22.6% in number terms.

The number of new applications for mortgages was up 24.1%.

The proportion of new approvals priced at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate moved up to 66.7% from 65.2% in January. 

Fixed-rate mortgages more popular

The proportion of new approvals priced other than with reference to the best lending rate expanded further to 8% from 4.5% in January, suggesting an increasing popularity in fixed-rate mortgages.

The outstanding amount of mortgage loans rose 0.3% to $523.2 billion.

Improvement in the quality of the mortgage portfolio continues. With the mortgage delinquency ratio dropping to 0.79% from 0.83% in January and the rescheduled loan ratio remaining unchanged at 0.51%, with the combined ratio improving to 1.3% from 1.34%.

New loans drawn down for purchasing properties on the Mainland rose to $245 million. The amount of outstanding loans at the end of the month was $6.6 billion.