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 increased in July 2017.  With regard to the outstanding balance, RMLs witnessed an increase whereas CRELs fell slightly.

New lending approved

In July 2017, new RMLs approved by Macao banks rose by 19.1% month-to-month to MOP5.8 billion.  Of which, new RMLs to residents, accounting for 66.2% of the total, decreased 19.4% to MOP3.8 billion.  Mainly attributed to the approval of enterprise loans with residential properties as collaterals, the non-resident component increased to MOP2.0 billion.  When compared with the same period of 2016, new approvals of RMLs increased by 65.0%.

New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) dropped by 77.2% from a higher comparison base in the previous month to MOP166.5 million.  On an annual basis, new equitable mortgage approved also fell by 28.8%.

New CRELs rose by 79.5% month-to-month to MOP10.9 billion; of which, new CRELs to residents, accounting for 99.7% of the total, soared by 82.4% to MOP10.9 billion, mainly driven by new loans granted to enterprises for large-scale tourism project development.  In contrast, new CRELs to non-residents fell by 70.8% from the previous month to MOP33.9 million.  On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs increased by 210.9%.

Outstanding balances

As at end-July 2017, the outstanding value of RMLs was MOP187.9 billion, up by 1.1% from a month earlier or 6.0% from a year ago. The resident component made up 93.5% of the total.  When compared with the previous month, outstanding RMLs to residents and non-residents rose by 0.8% and 6.2% respectively.

The outstanding value of CRELs was MOP172.3 billion, down 0.2% month-to-month but up 1.6% year-on-year.  Residents accounted for 89.4% of the loans.  Compared with a month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents remained largely unchanged whereas those to non-residents decreased by 1.8%.

Delinquency ratios

At the end of July 2017, the delinquency ratio for RMLs was 0.17%, up 0.01 percentage point from a month ago or 0.05 percentage points over a year earlier.  The ratio for CRELs was 0.14%, virtually unchanged from the preceding month but up 0.11 percentage points from end-July 2016.