New mortgage loans drawn down during May rose 29.6% to $13.9 billion, while new loans approved rose 22.7% to $17.7 billion, the Monetary Authority says.

The increase was due to a 35.6% rise, or $900 million, in approvals for primary market transactions, and of 30.8% ($2.6 billion) in approvals for secondary market transactions. The increases more than offset the 5.8% fall ($200 million) in approvals for refinancing loans. The number of new applications rose 22.8%.

The proportion of new loans approved at more than 2.5% below the best lending rate grew to 85.2% from 76% in April. The proportion of new approvals priced with reference to rates other than the best lending rate or fixed rates fell to 11.3% from 20.6% over the same period.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans rose 0.3% to $532.5 billion.