The maximum loan size for mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of 95 percent under the Mortgage Insurance Program will rise from 5 million HK dollars (641,000 US dollars) to 8 million HK dollars (1026,000 dollars), Hong Kong's Mortgage Corporation said Friday.

The corporation will accept the 95 percent product applications with a loan size of up to 8 million HK dollars from Nov. 20. Since its launch on July 29, and the 95 percent product has received very good market response. Up to Nov. 17, more than 3,000 applications have been received, with over 80 percent coming from the secondary property market.

This demonstrates a strong market demand for higher financing. A number of banks have recently asked the corporation to extend the coverage of the 95 percent product to mortgages with loan size exceeding 5 million HK dollars.

After consulting its approved reinsurers, the corporation has decided to increase the maximum loan size of the 95 percent product to 8 million HK dollars. At present the maximum loan size for the 90 percent product can go up to 12 million HK dollars (1538,000 dollars).