Homeloan Rate

[BMM389EC]

Hello All

Was wondering if anyone could tell me the average interest rate charged by the banks for a homeloan to Cathay staff?

[Colonel W E Kurtz]

HSBC are giving 1.28% fixed for 12 months, then 2.3% for the remainder of the loan, offer on until end of july.

[Cpt. Underpants]

Colonel

I don't believe any fixed-rate mortgages are being offered by any of the Hong Kong banks. I don't dispute the initial rate, but I am pretty sure the rate is a percentage under prime or the interbank lending rate for the rest of the term, so in effect it floats with prime.

[BMM389EC]

What is prime in Hong Kong at the moment?

[Colonel W E Kurtz]

The initial rate is fixed at 1.28% for the first year, or 1.18% if the property is more than $3million.

Captain Underpants you are correct. The current prime rate is 5% variable. The rate charged for the rest of the loan is the prime rate P, minus 2.7%.

So at the moment it would be 5%-2.7%=2.3%

The bank will only loan you the money over a time period determined by a formula:

50-(Age of the building)=Maximum repayment period.

Eg 30 year old building, maximum repayment period 20 years.
35 year old bldg, 15 yrs.

I believe it used to be 40-age but has been increased.

The bank can only lend you 70% of the property Value. You can borrow an additional 20% to take the total up to 90%. However you must pay a premium to the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation (a goverment agency) to cover the additional 20%. This varies with the tenure of the loan and the pecentage above 70% you want to borrow.

There is more to this but I think I should get a 2nd job as a mortgage advisor first.... :}

[Pogie]

Do they give mortages like that to Freighter pilots buying a home in, say, Canada?

[Colonel W E Kurtz]

No only Hong Kong:8