Consistent strong growth in residential mortgage loans last month has confirmed a sustained rebound in the property market.
The monthly survey by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority shows gross loans made during March shot up 22 per cent to $11 billion, from $8.99 billion in February.
As a further indication of a resurgence in buying interest, the volume of new loans approved last month surged 15.2 per cent to $11.98 billion from $10.39 billion.
The number of transactions climbed to 7,788 from 7,243. Loans approved but not yet drawn rose $500 million, or 6.9 per cent, to $7.6 billion.
The amount of outstanding mortgages provided by the 33 institutions in the survey was up 1.6 per cent to $284.99 billion.
The growth rate was the same as in February and was in line with the monthly average of 1.6 per cent in the past 12 months.
'The growth of residential mortgage lending in March reflected a continued rebound in activity in the property market,' the monetary authority's deputy-chief executive (banking), David Carse, said.