According to Wong Leung-sing, Senior Associate Director of Centaline Property Research, 1,263 second-hand private residential mortgage contracts were registered in February 2023, down 53 cases month-on-month.

The figure is a 47-month low since March 2019 and has remained below 2,000 for five consecutive months.

The second-hand property market turned rapidly ahead of the Chinese New Year in January 2023, with a significant increase in sales and purchases, which is expected to push up demand for second-hand existing mortgages.

It is estimated that the number of registered second-hand private residential mortgage contracts will pick up in March 2021, with the outlook for a return to the 2,000 level.

In February 2023, 3,460 private residential mortgages were registered, a month-on-month decrease of 1,296. Of these, 994 were registered in the primary market, 1,263 in the secondary market and 1,055 were remortgages/re-mortgages.

In February, 60 private residential mortgages were registered, a month-on-month decrease of 142 cases. Projects with a high number of registrations included Park Aura 3 and Sunrise Hong Kong 11 C Kai Pak Fung II.

In February, 1,860 mortgage contracts for Home Ownership Scheme, Sandwich Class Housing Scheme and Tenants Purchase Scheme were registered, representing a significant increase of 1,196 cases month-on-month. The registration volume was mainly concentrated in Yue Nga Court (HOS 2022) as a new HOS flat was taken up for mortgage.

In February 2023, 5,550 mortgage contracts (excluding uncompleted flats) were registered. BOC undertook 1,618 contracts (29.2%), HSBC 1,355 (24.4%), Hang Seng 918 (16.5%) and Standard Chartered 215 (3.9%).