MACAO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Macao's new approvals of residential mortgage loans rose while those of commercial real estate loans decreased in September 2018, the Monetary Authority of Macao said on Monday.

In September, the residential mortgage loans approved by Macao's banks increased by 31.9 percent month-to-month to 9.7 billion patacas (1.2 billion U.S. dollars). Of which, new mortgage loans to residents, accounting for 86.2 percent of the total, rose by 15.9 percent to 8.3 billion patacas (1.03 billion U.S. dollars). The non-resident component increased to 1.3 billion patacas (160 million U.S. dollars).

The monthly average of new residential mortgage loans approved between July and September 2018 was 7.4 billion patacas (916 million U.S. dollars), up by 11.4 percent from the previous period, between June and August 2018.

New commercial real estate loans dropped by 65.8 percent from a relatively high base in the previous month to 3.3 billion patacas (408 million U.S. dollars).

The monthly average of new commercial real estate loans approved between July and September 2018 was 5.7 billion patacas (705 million U.S. dollars), down by 15.2 percent when compared with the previous period, between June and August 2018.