d":"https://www.thestandard.com.hk/comment"}}]}]17:T7bb,Staff reporter

Hong Kong's smaller banks are said to be making it harder for seniors to pay off mortgages by reducing the tenure of the home loans, as they continue to grapple with elevated interest rates.

Banks traditionally use the age limit of 75 minus the age of the borrower to determine the maximum loan term.

For example, if the person is 55, the longest term they can obtain will be 20 years.

But some smaller banks are now using 65 to calculate the tenure, which means a 55-year-old would see their repayment period halved to 10 years.

Cookie Wong Wing-yan, managing director of Ricacorp Mortgage Agency, said she believes the age of 65 is only being used in particular cases among some smaller banks which have become more prudent amid higher interest rates.

Wong does not believe other banks will not follow suit.

Ivy Wong Mei-fung, managing director of Centaline Mortgage Broker, noted that the city's four major lenders - the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Bank of China (Hong Kong) (2388), Hang Seng Bank (0011) and Standard Chartered Hong Kong - still primarily use the age of 75 for calculation a loan's tenure.

Earlier this year, major lenders scrapped cash rebates on mortgages to cut costs amid high interest rates.

In the primary market, Des Voeux W Residence in Sai Ying Pun put another batch of 31 flats with an average price of HK$20,689 after discounts, about 5 percent higher than that of the first list of 50 units.

Some lenders are tightening the screws for older borrowers. Sing Tao

Shorter mortgage terms challenge senior buyers