PETALING JAYA: Property loan approval rates are expected to start recovering from the third quarter of this year, as lockdown restrictions begin easing with the gradual opening of the economy. UOB Kay Hian, in a report, noted that the mortgage approval rate saw a month-on-month pickup of four percentage points in April and two percentage points in May, following the lockdown. “While this remains below the pre-Covid-19 levels of above 40%, we do not expect banks to further tighten approval standards since they have been fairly stringent even before the onset of the pandemic. “We expect to see a recovery in the loan approval rate from the third quarter of 2021, as the loan processing backlog is expected to ease with the gradual reopening of the economy.”