The value of residential mortgage loans approved in February was $29 billion, a 10.8% decrease compared with January, the Monetary Authority announced today.

Mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased 24% to $8.6 billion, while those financing secondary market transactions decreased 6.1% to $17.2 billion.

Loans for refinancing increased 10.7% to $3.2 billion.

Mortgage loans drawn down during February amounted to $16.4 billion, a 24.4% drop from January.

The number of mortgage applications in February fell 7.5% month-on-month to 8,125.

The outstanding value of mortgage loans rose 0.2% month-on-month to $1.9263 trillion at end-February.