Residential mortgage loans approved in September decreased 28.4% compared with August to $25.5 billion, the Monetary Authority announced today.

Mortgage loans financing primary market transactions dropped 32.1% to $3.2 billion, while those financing secondary market transactions fell 35.4% to $9.3 billion.

Loans for refinancing decreased 21.2% to $13 billion.

Mortgage loans drawn down during the month dipped 3.9% to $20.1 billion.

The number of mortgage applications in September stood at 8,787, representing a month-on-month increase of 2%.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans rose 0.1% to stand at $1.8568 trillion at the end of September.