The mortgage delinquency ratio and rescheduled loan ratio fell to record lows of 0.11% and 0.20% in November, driving the combined ratio lower to 0.32%, according to the Monetary Authority's monthly survey.

New mortgage loans drawn down rose 17.5% to $18.7 billion, and new loans approved surged 20.5% to $27.7 billion.

The rise was due to more approvals for secondary market transactions, which more than offset the drop in approvals for primary market transactions and refinancing loans.

Approvals for secondary-market transactions grew 39.4% to $21.9 billion, primary-market transactions fell 33.4% to $2.7 billion, and refinancing loans dropped 3.3% to $3 billion. The number of new applications rose 3.9%.