Chung Huen Mortgage: The number of new mortgage insurance applications in Hong Kong in April increased by 18.4% month-on-month, reaching a new peak in 7 months.

On May 12, Wang Meifeng, Managing Director of Central Mortgage, stated that according to the latest statistics released by the Hong Kong Mortgage Insurance Corporation, in April 2025, the number of new mortgage insurance policies in Hong Kong increased by 18.4% month-on-month, reaching 610 policies; the amount of new mortgage insurance policies increased significantly by 30% month-on-month, reaching HK$3.4 billion. Both the number of policies and the amount reached a new high in the past 7 months. Wang Meifeng pointed out that after the announcement of the financial budget in February this year, the Hong Kong property market has warmed up, and March saw a "mini spring," leading to a significant increase in monthly transactions by over 50%. This situation further drove up the volume of new mortgage insurance policies in April. At the same time, the number of new mortgage insurance policies has been rising for four consecutive months, with the number in April further increasing to 1490 policies, a 10% increase from the previous month, reaching a new high in the past 8 months. The amount of loans involved increased by 7.4% to HK$7.1 billion, setting a new high in the past 6 months. However, the increase in the volume of new mortgage insurance policies in April was only 10%, which may be related to the decrease in market usage rates. The new mortgage insurance policies in April mainly belonged to cases applied for before the announcement of the financial budget at the beginning of the year. The proportion of new properties in the monthly new mortgage insurance policies increased significantly from 34% in March to 54%, with the increase mainly coming from earlier transactions and new developments in the first quarter of this year. The "mini spring" in the property market in February and March will drive up the volume of new mortgage insurance policies in the second quarter. Overall data shows that the number of new mortgage insurance policies in the first four months of 2025 reached 2169, a decrease of 17.3% compared to the same period last year; the amount reached HK$11.3 billion, a decrease of 18.4% compared to the same period last year. During this period, the number of new mortgage insurance policies issued reached 5448, a decrease of 35.5% compared to the same period last year, involving an amount of HK$27.5 billion, a decrease of 36.7% compared to the same period last year. These numbers mainly reflect the softness in the property market transactions before the announcement of the new financial budget, especially from the end of last year to the beginning of this year.