MORTGAGE costs could plunge by nearly $500 a month for the average home buyer if the territory's banks today proceed with an anticipated interest rate cut.
That will mean average monthly repayment costs have tumbled by nearly $1,000 in the past six weeks as a result of consecutive cuts.
Banks are expected to reduce short-term deposit and prime lending rates by at least a quarter of a percentage point after today's meeting of the Hong Kong Association of Banks.
There is also growing confidence of additional cuts - some believe upwards of one per cent - during the remainder of the year.
A cut today would mean the standard mortgage rates would drop from 10.5 per cent to 10.25 per cent.
For a home buyer paying off a standard mortgage on a $3 million flat over 15 years, monthly payments will be cut by $460 to $32,700.
