2023 is coming to an end, and it is time to review the highs and lows of the mortgage market this year. After the mainland and the Hong Kong government fully resumed border crossings at the beginning of the year, the property market briefly experienced a "small spring". However, the speed of economic recovery after the epidemic was slower than expected, and the interbank lending rate repeatedly rose above 5% and remained high, causing Hong Kong banks to raise the prime rate twice. At the end of the year, the cap on H mortgage rates was raised again, and mortgage rates rose to a 16-year high, affecting property market transactions. On the other hand, the government actively rescued the market and introduced several measures to ease mortgage lending this year to help citizens buy houses more easily. However, citizens are still cautious about the property market. The property market continued to be in a stalemate in the second half of the year, and the private residential price index fell for six consecutive months. In January, it hit a new low in more than 6 and a half years, and the number of negative asset cases in the third quarter also increased sharply quarter-on-quarter to over 10,000.

This year, the housing market is facing mixed positive and negative factors. What news are citizens most concerned about? The company has previously conducted the "2023 Top 10 Mortgage News Election" to understand the mortgage issues that Hong Kong citizens are most concerned about. This year, 654 respondents were successfully interviewed and they selected the most influential mortgage news this year. The results of Hong Kong mortgage news are as follows:

1. The HKMA relaxes countercyclical measures and adjusts the upper limit of loan-to-value ratios for banks and mortgage insurance

2. New mortgage interest rate rises to 4.125%, a 16-year high, increasing mortgage pressure on homeowners

3. The upper limit of mortgage loan for pre-sale property is the same as that for existing property

4. One-month interbank lending rate rises above 5%, hitting a 16-year high

5. Bank mortgage cash rebates once rose to 3.1%, a 15-and-a-half-year high

6. Policy Address extends Home Ownership Scheme mortgage guarantee period to 50 years

7. New cases of negative equity in the third quarter increased by nearly 2.3 times quarter-on-quarter

8. The number and amount of mortgage insurance plans fell to a new low before the launch of the "Carrie Lam PLAN"

9. HKMC’s fixed-rate mortgage rate increased to 5%, a 16-year high

10. The proportion of refinancing surged to 50%, a record high

From the results, it can be seen that "new mortgage interest rate rises to 4.125%" is the mortgage news that most people voted for. This is probably because the mortgage interest rate is an important consideration for home buyers, and with the Hong Kong banks raising interest rates several times this year, the new mortgage interest rate has risen to 4.125%. The rate rose from 3.375% at the beginning of the year to 4.125%, increasing the mortgage burden and the requirements for buying a house, making it the news that citizens are most concerned about. In addition, "the HKMA relaxes the upper limit of the mortgage ratio for banks and mortgage insurance" and "the upper limit of the mortgage ratio for pre-sale properties is equal to that for existing properties" ranked second and third respectively. It is believed that the mortgage ratio is also an important part of home purchase. Taking out a high-ratio mortgage can reduce the down payment and increase the chances of successfully buying a home, so two of the top three spots in this year's election rankings are related to relaxing mortgage ratios.