HSBC supposedly lowered mortgage rate for borrowers of more than HK$10m

Is this because of its market share loss?

Recently, the Sing Tao Daily reported that HSBC had lowered its Hibor-based mortgage offer from “H+1.7%” to “H+1.6% to H+1.65%” for customers borrowing more than HK$10mn.

According to a research note from Barclays, currently, the HKMA has guided banks to offer H+1.7% mortgage and HSBC’s reported interest-rate cut would be below the HKMA reference level.

The Sing Tao Daily article also added that currently the most popular mortgage plan in the market is one being bundled with an interest-saving account.

According to the report, however, HSBC had no such plan in place and had been losing market share to BOC (HK), which triggered the bank to act this time.

Here's more from Barclays:

Meanwhile, the 10Y UST dropped slightly by 0.35bps to 2.262% last week. Despite the small retreat, it remained higher than the end-October closing of 2.142%.

Locally, three-month Hibor also recorded a 0.30bps decline w/w to 0.372%. The Hong Kong dollar also turned stronger last week, moving from 7.7508 to 7.7502 but the HKMA no longer needed to intervene to weaken the currency. The last time that the HKMA intervened was 4 November.