HONG KONG, March 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The number of new mortgage loans drawn down during February decreased 7.1 percent, although the value of these loans rose 2.9 percent to 12.8 billion HK dollars (1.64 billion US dollars), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said Tuesday.

    New loans approved dropped 11.2 percent to 13.1 billion HK dollars (1.68 billion US dollars). The fall was due to the decrease in approvals for primary market transactions, which fell 17.8 percent, and refinancings which fell 30.7 percent. These more than offset the 1.5 percent increase in approvals for secondary market transactions.

    The number of new applications also fell by 15.3 percent.

    The average contractual life of newly approved loans increased from 238 months in January to 248 months, the longest since mid-1998. Most new loans priced below best lending rate.

    The proportion of new loan approvals priced at more than 2.5 percent below the best lending rate was more or less unchanged compared with January, at 90.2 percent. Enditem