Sales of homes in HK slid nearly 38%
Source: Bloomberg News |
01:07 UTC+8 May 5, 2011
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE number of homes sold in Hong Kong fell to the lowest in more than two years in April as government curbs and rising mortgage rates fueled concern a two-year price surge may be ending.
The number of units that changed hands last month fell 37.6 percent from a year earlier to 7,635, according to a statement on the Land Registry website. That's the lowest since March 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. The value of those transactions fell 26.8 percent from a year earlier to HK$39 billion (US$5 billion), the biggest yearly drop since June 2010, according to the release.
Housing prices in the city, ranked the world's most expensive place to buy a home by Savills Plc, have gained more than 55 percent in the past two years on record-low mortgage rates and an influx of buyers from Chinese mainland. The government in November raised property transaction taxes and pledged to boost land supply amid protests that housing prices are becoming unaffordable and as the central bank warned about the risk of a "credit-fueled property bubble."
Hong Kong's bank interest rates will rise on loan demand and capital outflows when the United States increases borrowing costs, Hong Kong Monetary Authority head Norman Chan said on April 28. The city's lenders, including Standard Chartered Plc and BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd, raised mortgage rates in April after the warning from the city's de-facto central bank.
The government will sell nine sites in the second quarter, generating 2,650 flats, and may announce its land sale schedule at the start of each quarter, Financial Secretary John Tsang said last month.
The number of units that changed hands last month fell 37.6 percent from a year earlier to 7,635, according to a statement on the Land Registry website. That's the lowest since March 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. The value of those transactions fell 26.8 percent from a year earlier to HK$39 billion (US$5 billion), the biggest yearly drop since June 2010, according to the release.
Housing prices in the city, ranked the world's most expensive place to buy a home by Savills Plc, have gained more than 55 percent in the past two years on record-low mortgage rates and an influx of buyers from Chinese mainland. The government in November raised property transaction taxes and pledged to boost land supply amid protests that housing prices are becoming unaffordable and as the central bank warned about the risk of a "credit-fueled property bubble."
Hong Kong's bank interest rates will rise on loan demand and capital outflows when the United States increases borrowing costs, Hong Kong Monetary Authority head Norman Chan said on April 28. The city's lenders, including Standard Chartered Plc and BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd, raised mortgage rates in April after the warning from the city's de-facto central bank.
The government will sell nine sites in the second quarter, generating 2,650 flats, and may announce its land sale schedule at the start of each quarter, Financial Secretary John Tsang said last month.
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