Mortgage brokers expect new home loans to reach HK$238bn next year, a 19%t increase on this year and the highest since the HK$256 billion at the market peak in 1997.

New home loans reached HK$159bn in the first 10 months of this year, according to a survey by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Sharmaine Lau Yuen-yuen, the chief economic analyst at mortgage broker mReferral, said yesterday the firm expected total new home loans drawn down to reach HK$200bn by the end of the year, which would be 8.2% higher than the HK$185bn last year.

South China Morning Post