MACAO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The new approvals of Macao's residential mortgage loans (RMLs) increased while those of commercial real estate loans (CRELs) decreased in November 2020, the special administrative region's monetary watchdog said on Monday.

According to statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the new RMLs approved by Macao banks rose 6.7 percent month on month to 2.92 billion patacas (about 365.6 million U.S. dollars).

The new RMLs to residents, representing 99.1 percent of the total, rose 7.2 percent to 2.89 billion patacas. On the other hand, the non-resident component decreased by 28.1 percent to 25.1 million patacas.

The monthly average of new RMLs approved between September and November last year was 4.2 billion patacas, down 13.8 percent from the period from August to October.

The new CRELs dropped 39.3 percent month on month to 1.85 billion patacas. The new CRELs to residents, or 99.1 percent of the total, decreased 39.2 percent to 1.83 billion patacas.

The new CRELs to non-residents fell 52.0 percent to 17.2 million patacas.

The monthly average of new CRELs approved between September and November 2020 was 3.7 billion patacas, down 17.8 percent as compared with the period from August to October.

At the end of November, the outstanding value of RMLs was 234.9 billion patacas, which rose 0.1 percent month on month, or 1.8 percent from a year ago.

The outstanding value of CRELs grew 0.3 percent month on month, but dropped 4.5 percent from a year earlier, to 173.5 billion patacas.

At the end of November, the delinquency ratio for RMLs stood at 0.26 percent, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous month, but up 0.03 percentage point over a year earlier.

The ratio for CRELs was 0.49 percent, up 0.07 percentage point from a month ago or 0.11 percentage point from the same period of last year. (1 pataca equals 0.1247 U.S. dollar)