CNA – Hong Kong plans to “fine-tune” the maximum size of mortgages available to first-time homebuyers, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in a radio interview yesterday.
Chan told Commercial Radio Hong Kong that residents want to upgrade homes after starting families so the government is discussing with the de facto central bank to adjust mortgages to sizes that balance buyer interest and financial security.
Market participants have been urging the government to relax property market curbs after home prices in one of the world’s most expensive markets dropped 15 per cent last year.
Chan has previously said repeatedly he had no intention of doing so.
Currently buyers can borrow up to 50 per cent of the cost of mid-sized-to-large homes priced over HKD12 million (USD1.53 million).
