Property prices in the territory fell 3.5 per cent in the July to October period, Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan said yesterday, a day after authorities said they might ease housing market curbs if necessary. Housing prices are "slowly coming down and ... will continue for a bit and hopefully we will be able to achieve a soft landing ... When the environment trends downwards, we...
Hong Kong Property
In sharp contrast to Singapore's move to further cool the private home market, Hong Kong will ease some of its property curbs if prices extend their decline amid Europe's worsening credit crisis and a global economic slowdown. Housing prices are "slowly coming down and ... will continue for a bit and hopefully we will be able to achieve a soft landing ... When the environment trends downwards, we will...
Sun Hung Kai Properties forecast that sales for the next fiscal year will hit HK$32 billion (S$5.3 billion), an executive from the company said Thursday. Hong Kong's largest developer by market capitalisation predicted that sales in the city alone would hit HK$26.8 billion next fiscal year, which runs through June 2012. The company also called for a revision of Hong Kong's special stamp duty, imposed a...
The Hong Kong government has proposed a new law that will slap fines and jail terms on property developers who mislead buyers of new homes. The government yesterday kicked off a two-month consultation period on the new law, which it hopes to introduce to the Legislative Council in the first quarter of next year. "There are consumer protections on other areas and there should be similar protections on...
The threat of a global economic slowdown is intensifying risks in Hong Kong's home market and the government will monitor housing policies designed to curb prices, said Financial Secretary John Tsang. "The deepening of the European debt crisis and stalling growth in the United States could affect Hong Kong's economy and may bring turmoil to global financial markets," Mr Tsang told lawmakers in Hong Kong...
Mapletree Investments has acquired a major retail and commercial complex in Hong Kong for HK$18.8 billion or about S$2.9 billion. Mapletree, a wholly-owned property arm of investment company Temasek Holdings, said it is buying Festival Walk - located in Kowloon Tong on the Kowloon peninsula - from Swire Properties. Festival Walk has a seven-storey shopping mall and a Grade-A office tower with a gross...
Luxury residential prices and rents in Hong Kong rose to a new high in the second quarter of the year due to tight supply and strong demand from mainland Chinese buyers, according to a report by Colliers International. Overall luxury residential prices rose by 3.8 per cent on a quarterly basis to a record of HK$19,520 (S$3,024) per sq ft in the three-month period ended May, surpassing the previous peak in...
Mapletree Investments, a property arm of Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings, is in discussions to buy the Festival Walk retail complex in Hong Kong's Kowloon Tong district, the Sing Tao Daily reported yesterday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Sing Tao said Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific may divest Festival Walk for HK$22 billion (S$3.5 billion). If successful, the sale...
ong Kong is facing a bubble and the government is ready to introduce drastic measures if necessary, Financial Secretary John Tsang said yesterday, as residential prices in the Chinese territory have surged to record highs. "Hong Kong's housing sector is unusually strong because of loose monetary policy in advanced markets such as Europe and the United States, ample liquidity, super-low interest rates and...
Hong Kong has lowered the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for home mortgages and will release enough land to build 6,000 residential units in the July-September quarter, more than double the supply in the previous three months, as it steps up measures to cool the red-hot property market. Apartments valued at between HK$10 million and HK$12 million (S$1.6 million to S$1.9 million) would have their LTV ratios...