Macao banks approved some 5.7 billion patacas (712 billion U.S. dollars) of new residential mortgage loans (RMLs) in the first quarter of this year, up by 22 percent over the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the figures released on Tuesday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

Of the newly-approved RMLs in the period, 93.9 percent was extended to residents, and, in terms of approved value, new RMLs to residents grew 26 percent while those to non-residents dropped 17.9 percent over the previous quarter, the figures from Monetary Authority indicated.

Meanwhile, new commercial real estate loans (CRELs) approved decreased by 45.8 percent quarter-to-quarter to 5.7 billion patacas (712 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, of which 75.6 percent was granted to residents, according to the Monetary Authority.

At the end of March this year, the delinquency ratio for RMLs stood at 0.08 percent, down 0.01 percentage points from three months earlier, while the ratio for CRELs went down 0.01 percentage points to 0.09 percent, the Monetary Authority also said.