The value of new residential mortgage loans drawn down in April fell 11.4% to $10.8 billion, the Monetary Authority says. New loans approved also fell 11.3% to $14.5 billion.

The fall was due to falls of $1.7 billion in secondary market transactions, and $100 million in primary market ones. The number of new applications also fell 12.9%.

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate rose to 76% from 73.2% in March, while the proportion of new approvals priced with reference to rates other than the best lending rate or fixed rates dropped to 20.6% from 22.4%.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans rose 0.1% to $531 billion.