According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and commercial real estate loans (CRELs) both decreased in October 2016. With regard to the outstanding balance, RMLs stayed virtually unchanged whereas CRELs increased mildly.
New lending approved
In October 2016, new RMLs approved by Macao banks decreased by 46.5% month-to-month to MOP2.9 billion. Of which, new RMLs to residents, accounting for 97.9% of the total, fell by 47.0% from a higher comparison base in the previous month to MOP2.8 billion. The non-resident component also dropped by 5.2%. When compared with the same period of 2015, new approvals of RMLs increased by 16.3%.
New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) increased by 6.6% from the preceding month to MOP269.5 million. The equitable mortgage extended to residents, which accounted for 97.5% of the total, increased by 3.9% from the previous month. On an annual basis, new equitable mortgage approved dropped by 14.4%.
New CRELs dropped by 31.3% from a higher comparison base in the previous month to MOP6.2 billion. New approvals of CRELs declined by 32.6% when compared with last year.
Outstanding balances
As at end-October 2016, the outstanding value of RMLs was MOP178.6 billion, virtually unchanged from the previous month but increased by 4.9% from a year ago. The resident component made up 93.7% of the total. When compared with the previous month, outstanding RMLs to residents slightly increased by 0.2% whereas those to non-residents dropped by 2.1%.
The outstanding value of CRELs was MOP171.5 billion, up by 1.0% month-to-month or 7.3% when compared with a year ago. Residents accounted for 89.1% of the loans. Compared with a month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents increased by 1.2% whereas those to non-residents fell by 0.4%.
Delinquency ratios
At the end of October 2016, the delinquency ratio for RMLs was 0.15%, virtually unchanged from a month ago but up 0.07 percentage points from a year ago. The ratio for CRELs was 0.09%, down 0.02 percentage points from one month earlier but up by 0.08 percentage points from end-October 2015.
