MORTGAGE LOAN MEASURE EXPLAINED

Financial Secretary Paul Chan today said he is confident that the Government’s adjustment of the maximum loan-to-value ratio for all properties to 70% will be conducive to the healthy and stable development of the Hong Kong property market.

Elaborating on the measure, announced in yesterday’s Policy Address, at a press conference today, Mr Chan said the Government decided on the change after reviewing a whole range of factors.

“About the removal of all the macro-prudential measures, namely the loan-to-value (ratio) ceiling for bank loans, the property market, in terms of pricing, has come down quite a bit since September 2021. The market started to stabilise.

“There would be around 108,000 first-hand units available in the next three to four years in terms of residential properties, so the supply would be enough.

“So given those circumstances, we should not unduly impose measures to suppress the demand or try to prioritise the different demands.

“We have decided to remove all those measures, (while) also taking into consideration that, at the moment, our banking sector is very healthy, very well capitalised.

“We do feel confident (with) removing those restrictions so that we will be able to project a more positive expectation, if I may use that word, about the healthy and stable development of the Hong Kong property market.”

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