The overheating property market remains the biggest risk factor to the stability of the Hong Kong economy, Mr Norman Chan, head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said yesterday, adding that household debt was now at 59 per cent, close to the record high of 60 per cent in 2002. Only three months after Hong Kong rolled out a tough new round of cooling measures, home prices have again climbed to record...
Hong Kong Property
Hong Kong monetary chief Norman Chan said more measures might be necessary to cool the city’s housing market as elevated household debt added to risks from property price gains over the past four years, Bloomberg news agency reported on Monday. Debt is “near historic high levels,” Mr Chan, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), told lawmakers, citing ratios of 58 to 59 per...
Hong Kong is at risk of an abrupt decline in property prices after gains fuelled by low interest rates and a limited supply of new housing, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. "The property sector is the main source of domestic economic risk," the IMF said in a report on the city released today. The odds of a slump that has major economic and financial consequences is "fairly low in the near...
Hong Kong may take further measures to control runaway property prices but the Asian financial centre is likely to avoid steps such as a capital gains tax which would be complicated, Hong Kong's leader, Leung Chun-ying, said on Thursday. Mr Leung's government imposed a 15 per cent tax on non-resident and corporate buyers of property late last week and speculation has been rife that further curbs will be...
The recent property cooling measures introduced in Hong Kong will not have an impact on Singapore property prices. Experts said foreign property investors are unlikely to switch their portfolio from Hong Kong to Singapore. Besides being leading international financial centres, both Singapore and Hong Kong hold some of the world's most expensive homes. Hong Kong tops the list, according to research from...
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said yesterday it has ordered banks to toughen lending requirements for borrowers with more than one mortgage on residential property, in a bid to prevent the city from being flooded with "hot money" after the United States announced an aggressive new stimulus plan to spur growth. Hong Kong's de facto central bank also said it had restricted the maximum length for...
The chill winds blasting through financial markets have hit rents for luxury properties in Hong Kong as banks lay off high earners and international companies cut back on expatriate packages, property brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle said on Monday. With luxury homes costing HK$100 million (S$16.2 million) or more, rental yields for high-end homes already yield less than 2 per cent, a return set to dwindle...
Property prices here grew at a slower pace and sales fell in the second quarter as global stock markets weakened, but the risk of a bubble will remain as long as interest rates stay low, the city's Financial Secretary warned yesterday. Mr John Tsang told legislators that market sentiment had moderated in the past two months after a sharp rebound in February. In May, prices grew by less than 1 per cent and...
Hong Kong's property market faces great corrective pressure amid threats from the euro zone crisis and macroeconomic volatility, causing uncertainty for home buyers, Financial Secretary John Tsang said on Monday. Mainland China has seen the world's fastest-growing prices over the last five years, up 111 per cent through the end of last year, with Hong Kong in second place at 94 per cent, according to...
Sun Hung Kai Properties, Asia's biggest developer by market value, has suspended trading of its stock, pending the release of a statement that could be "price sensitive", the company said. The announcement came as local media reported that its billionaire co-chairmen Thomas and Raymond Kwok were asked to assist in an investigation by Hong Kong's anti-graft agency. The company also suspended trading of two...