MReferral: August MReferral Mortgage Rate Index (MMI) reported 3.12%, a 14-month low.

mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services' referral research department's latest data shows that the August mReferral Mortgage Rate Index (MMI) came in at 3.12%, down 5 basis points month-on-month, hitting a 14-month low, reflecting a broad decline in the actual mortgage rate levels of new mortgage customers in the market. Cao Deming, Chief Vice President of mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services' referral division, said that in August, 30% of customers chose a large bank's 2.73% fixed-rate mortgage plan, pushing the MMI down to a more than one-year low. Cao continued that in August, U.S. core CPI rose 0.3% month-on-month, higher than market expectations, and non-farm payrolls added 162,000 jobs, far exceeding market expectations, significantly increasing market expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike this week. Cao said that even if the Federal Reserve starts raising rates early this week, it is estimated to be defensive in nature, and Hong Kong banks may not follow immediately, or may only slightly raise the prime rate (P) by about 0.125%, which is expected to have little impact on the mortgage market. In addition, on Monday (the 14th), the one-month HIBOR was quoted at 2.89%. Cao said that if the U.S. raises rates within the year, HIBOR will challenge levels above 3%, and the actual rates of generally new H-based mortgages will also remain at the cap. Currently, only one large bank continues to offer a fixed-rate mortgage plan until the end of this year. Although the rate has been raised from 2.73% to 2.93%, it is still 32 basis points lower than the current H-based mortgage cap. With rising rate hike expectations and no room for a significant short-term decline in interbank rates, it is expected that a certain number of customers will still choose fixed-rate plans.