Mortgages show smallest increase in six months By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter Mortgages controlled by domestic banks rose NT$62.8 billion (US$2.22 billion) from a month earlier to NT$8.8 trillion at the end of January, the smallest increase in six months, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Tuesday. From August to December last year, monthly increases ranged between NT$65 billion and NT$91 billion, commission data showed. The commission attributed the slowdown to the central bank’s implementation of selective credit controls in December last year. Mortgage growth did not slow that month, as the central bank allowed lenders to comply with previous loan-to-value requirements for mortgages approved before Dec. 8, it said.