Macao's new approved residential mortgage loans rise 38.9 pct in March

MACAO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The new approvals of Macao's residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and commercial real estate loans (CRELs) both increased in March 2021, the special administrative region's (SAR) monetary watchdog said on Wednesday.

According to the statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the new RMLs approved by Macao banks in March rose 38.9 percent month on month to 2.96 billion patacas (about 370 million U.S. dollars).

The new RMLs to residents, representing 99.7 percent of the total, grew 38.9 percent to 2.95 billion patacas. The non-resident component increased by 49.5 percent to 9.3 million patacas.

The monthly average of new RMLs approved between January and March this year was 2.6 billion patacas, down 6.1 percent from the previous period from December 2020 to February 2021.

The new CRELs advanced by 17.2 percent month on month to 1.92 billion patacas. The new CRELs to residents, or 99.5 percent of the total, increased 24.8 percent to 1.91 billion patacas.

The new CRELs to non-residents dropped to 10.3 million patacas.

The monthly average of new CRELs approved between January and March 2021 was 2.4 billion patacas, down by 0.5 percent as compared with the period from December 2020 to February 2021.

At the end of March, the outstanding value of RMLs was 235.0 billion patacas, which shrank by 0.2 percent month on month but rose by 1.6 percent from a year ago.

The outstanding value of CRELs decreased by 0.7 percent month on month, or 12.6 percent from a year earlier, to 158.4 billion patacas.

At the end of March, the delinquency ratio for RMLs remained virtually unchanged from the previous month at 0.24 percent, but down by 0.01 percentage point from a year earlier.

The ratio for CRELs was 0.54 percent, up 0.01 percentage point from a month ago or 0.09 percentage point from the same period of last year. (1 pataca equals 0.1250 U.S. dollar)