The ability of Hong Kong homeowners to pay their mortgages remains intact despite the slower economy and a big jump in negative equity, bankers say.

The number of negative equity mortgages in the city jumped more than 326% last quarter to 10,949 cases from 2,568 at the end of September due to the fall in property prices.

However, Winsome Ha Fung-ying, the head of secured lending at Standard Chartered, said the bank had not seen a substantial increase in applications for extension to repayment terms.

South China Morning Post