The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will review its restrictive mortgage policies in light of the falling property market, but it has no immediate plans to relax them, said its chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam yesterday.
Chan said since HKMA's introduction of four rounds of special mortgage policies - starting in October 2009, with the latest in June - property turnover and prices have both declined. Residential property transactions have dived 34 per cent to about 75,000 in the first 10 months this year, compared with the same period last year.
'Property turnover has dropped substantially recently,' said Chan. 'Property prices have also gone down 3.5 per cent from July to October. We will continue to monitor market developments to check if our mortgage policies are appropriate.'
The HKMA's mortgage policies form part of the government's measures to cool the property boom after home prices soared 75 per cent between January 2009 and May this year.
On Thursday, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah signalled the government was prepared to unwind measures to cool the property market if prices continued to fall, as Europe's debt crisis and a looming global economic slowdown spook investors.
Property developers, such as Sun Hung Kai Properties, have called for an end to the restrictive measures, but some lawmakers are opposed.