New mortgage loans drawn down in March rose 12.3% to $20.6 billion, while new loans approved grew 5.2%, to $24.7 billion, the Monetary Authority says.

According to the 23 authorised institutions that participate in the authority's monthly survey of residential mortgage lending, the rise was due to an increase in approvals for primary market transactions and refinancing loans.

Approvals for primary market transactions and refinancing loans rose 89.1% and 35.1%, while approvals for secondary market transactions fell 6.6%. The number of new applications rose 13.8%. 

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate increased to 90% from 89% in February, as the proportion of approvals for Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate-based loans decreased. 

The outstanding value of mortgage loans rose 0.9%, to $574.8 billion.