Zhitong Finance App learned that Wang Meifeng, managing director of Zhongyuan Mortgage, pointed out that according to data from the Central Plains Research Department, Hong Kong recorded a total of 1,550 bank transfer registrations in August 2023, an increase of 38.1% over the previous month, a record high of the past eight months. This year, there has been a gradual increase in mortgage refunds since the second quarter, mainly because banks have successively raised mortgage rebates to recent highs since May, attracting property suppliers to earn rebates through refinancing. According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's residential mortgage statistics, after a 50% month-on-month increase in the amount of newly approved mortgage loans in May, it surged by 36.5% in June, reflecting a significant increase in refinancing registration figures in August.

Wang Meifeng said that based on continued activity in transfer applications in the third quarter, it will further increase the number of transfers and registrations in the third quarter. It is expected that the third quarter recorded a strong month-on-month increase in the number of transfer registrations, but due to the fact that banks increased new interest rates and reduced rebates in September, the simultaneous impact on transfers had a significant impact on refunding, greatly reduced the incentives for conversion. It is expected that the number of transfer registrations will rise significantly in the third quarter and then fall significantly in the fourth quarter.

According to the data, the transfer market share of the big four banks increased by 3.1 percentage points to 73.6% in August. During the period, HSBC's refinancing market share decreased 4.3 percentage points from month to month to 23.2%, but it continued to be the champion for 8 consecutive months. Hang Seng Bank (00011) recorded 301 transfer registrations in August. The market share increased 4.3 percentage points from month to month to 19.4%, the biggest increase from month to month, rising one level to second place. Bank of China Hong Kong (02388) recorded a total of 299 transfer registrations in August. Market share increased 0.9 percentage points over the previous month to 19.3%, falling one level to third place. ICBC (Asia) had 182 transfer registrations, and its market share increased 2.2 percentage points over the previous month to 11.7%, maintaining fourth place.

Wang Meifeng said that in the first eight months of this year, a total of 8,914 transfer registrations were recorded, a decrease of 41.4% from 15,199 in the same period last year. Because banks raised interest rates on mortgage plans in the second half of last year, the transfer rate was slightly higher than the original interest rate for ordinary property owners, weakening the incentives for conversion.