HKMA warns borrowers that Hibor could bounce back after hitting near 3-year low

But the chief of the de facto central bank said the public should be aware that the interest rate could bounce back.

The one-month Hibor, which is linked to mortgage loans, dropped to 0.9603 per cent on Tuesday, according to data from the Hong Kong Association of Banks. The rate had not fallen below 1 per cent since July 2022.

Borrowers with a HK$5 million loan spread over 30 years and priced at one-month Hibor plus 1.3 per cent would see their monthly repayments fall by HK$3,314 (US$423) to HK$19,138 if the effective Hibor-linked mortgage rate fell to 2.26 per cent from 3.5 per cent a month earlier, according to local mortgage broker mReferral.

“The lower Hibor rate was set to encourage more borrowers to borrow using the Hibor-related mortgage rather than the prime lending rate,” said Eric Tso Tak-ming, chief vice-president of mReferral.

The overnight Hibor also dropped to 0.0266 per cent from 4.3000 per cent over the same span.