A passerby looks at rising indexes from three major European markets, outside a bank in Hong Kong on Thursday. The US central bank on Thursday said it will launch a fresh round of bond-buying to stimulate the economy, and will purchase $40 billion of mortgage debt each month. [Photo/Agencies]
The Hong Kong government introduced a fifth round of prudential measures to prevent local home prices from soaring even further, following the US move to launch a third round of quantitative easing (QE3).
The city's de facto central bank Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Friday that it has ordered local banks to tighten borrowers' lending requirements, targetting borrowers who already have one mortgage loan on residential properties.
For home buyers who already have one property, their mortgage payments for investment properties cannot exceed 40 percent of their monthly income, down from the current 50 percent limit allowed. In other words, a new buyer of a second home has to make a 10 percent more down-payment in applying for mortgage loans under the new HKMA measure.
The Hong Kong government introduced a fifth round of prudential measures to prevent local home prices from soaring even further, following the US move to launch a third round of quantitative easing (QE3).
The city's de facto central bank Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Friday that it has ordered local banks to tighten borrowers' lending requirements, targetting borrowers who already have one mortgage loan on residential properties.
For home buyers who already have one property, their mortgage payments for investment properties cannot exceed 40 percent of their monthly income, down from the current 50 percent limit allowed. In other words, a new buyer of a second home has to make a 10 percent more down-payment in applying for mortgage loans under the new HKMA measure.
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