KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 - OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad (OCBC Bank) is for the first time, offering a new mortgage loan facility, to finance the purchase of residential properties in prime sections of Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.

Its Head of Consumer Financial Services, Charles Sik said the introduction of the facility, OCBC Overseas Property Financing-Australia, follows the success of a similar scheme for London properties launched six month ago.

"Like the earlier scheme, customers will be able to take advantage of the fact that this is also a ringgit-based loan, hence mitigating the effects of fluctuating foreign exchange risks," he said in a statement here today.

He said customers can now invest in Sydney and Melbourne properties with peace of mind, knowing their loan facility is fixed in the ringgit, mitigating forex risks.

"Australian property prices are certainly on an uptrend and we think it's really a good time now to capitalise on this," he added.

The scheme offers a margin of financing of up to 75 per cent and a loan tenure of up to 36 years for off-plan properties and 40 years for completed properties, or up to the time the borrows turn 70, whichever is earlier.-BERNAMA