Hong Kong housing rebound starts to cool as weekend sales fall

HONG Kong’s home sales rebound is beginning to lose steam, if last weekend’s transactions at major estates are any guide.

Sales of secondhand apartments at the 10 biggest residential estates fell 24 per cent after reaching a three-year high the previous weekend, according to Centaline Property Agency. Just 28 units changed hands, down from 37 a week earlier.

The recovery that was triggered by the scrapping of extra property taxes last month is starting to ease, Louis Chan, the head of Centaline’s residential division, said. Developers’ strategy to maintain low prices for new projects has also attracted buyers from the secondary market, leading to slower sales in the sector, he added.

The first batch of apartments from Wheelock Properties’s Seasons Place project attracted 18 applicants for every unit on offer after the company set the price at the lowest since 2019 for the area.

The property industry will remain under pressure due to an abundant supply of homes in both firsthand and secondary markets, as well as high borrowing costs, according to analysts. Colliers International Group expects prices to rise in the fourth quarter when some of the inventory is absorbed.

Existing home prices fell 0.8 per cent in the first full week after the government scrapped the property curbs in late February. BLOOMBERG

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