Hong Kong home prices slip in December, fall 7.1% in 2024
HONG Kong’s home prices fell 0.7 per cent in December and 7.1 per cent in 2024, government figures showed, as the property market struggles to find a bottom despite interest rate cuts and government support measures.
Private home prices fell 0.7 per cent in December from the month before, following a revised 0.03 per cent rise in November and a 1 per cent increase in October, data from the Rating and Valuation Department showed.
Prior to October, prices had declined for five months straight.
For the full year of 2024, prices dropped 7.1 per cent.
Home prices in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most unaffordable cities, have tumbled nearly 30 per cent from a 2021 peak, hurt initially by higher mortgage rates, easing demand as many professionals left the territory and a weak market outlook.
Authorities tried to prop-up the ailing sector in 2024 with measures such as lifting all property purchase restrictions and relaxing down payment ratios. But housing demand has remained soft, especially in the secondary market.
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Realtors forecast home prices in 2025 will rise or fall by 5 per cent, depending on the pace of official rate cuts and the severity of trade tensions between China and the US.
“With interest rates and housing inventory coming down, the second half of the year may see a more obvious price rise,” said Martin Wong, director of real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
Major banks, including HSBC and Bank of China (Hong Kong), lowered their best Hong Kong lending rate in December by 25 basis points for the third time this year, following the US Federal Reserve’s move.
The territory’s currency is pegged to the US dollar, but local banks make their own rate decisions. REUTERS
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