Hong Kong mortgage accounts up 3.6% in Q4 as lower rates trigger demand

Improved affordability might drive new mortgages or refinancing activity.

Hong Kong’s mortgage market showed early recovery signs in Q4 2025, with active mortgage accounts rising 3.6% year-on-year (YoY) during the quarter, noted TransUnion.

This reflects a recovering housing market and improving borrower confidence, the information and insights company said in a report on February 2026.

“Mortgage activity is recovering in a healthy and disciplined way and is likely to see further activity based on improved affordability as a result of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s current lower base rate environment,” said Weihan Sun, principal of research and consulting for Asia Pacific at TransUnion.

Primary residence transaction volumes more than doubled in Q3 2025, whilst the number of private secondary retail transactions increased by 55% YoY, it added, citing data from Centaline Property.

Lenders could benefit from predicting their customers’ needs for a new mortgage or a refinance activity by better understanding shifts in holistic consumer repayment, leveraging and borrowing behaviours, according to Sun.

The unsecured personal loans market saw accounts inch up by 0.9% YoY, and outstanding balances rise by 2.9% YoY, in Q4 2025.

The auto loan sector recorded increases during the quarter, with originations rising 28.2% YoY in Q3, reflecting improved demand for vehicle financing.

The Hong Kong government’s One-for-One replacement scheme, set to end on 31 March 2026, may have also driven up demand for vehicles, TransUnion said. The scheme supports the city’s target of reducing new registrations of fuel-propelled cars, including hybrid vehicles, by 2035 or earlier.

Meanwhile, the number of electric vehicles purchased during Q3 2025 was nearly double the number purchased in the same quarter in 2024, TransUnion said, based on data from the Hong Kong Electric Vehicle Database. A total of 9,125 EVs were sold in Q3 2025 compared to 5,582 in Q3 2024.

The credit card market, meanwhile, saw the number of cards decline by 1.5% YoY, but outstanding balances rose by 2.5% YoY.

Consumers’ average credit limits fell slightly by 3.4% YoY on the back of roll-off of closed or inactive accounts, TransUnion said.