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HONG KONG: Home sales in Hong Kong last week were the lowest in more than five years due to the government's new limits on mortgages and proposals to resume building Home Ownership Scheme flats.
Only 150 flat sales were recorded in the secondary market, according to data from the 50 largest housing estates monitored by Ricacorp Properties. The figure was down 18% from the previous week.
Ricacorp director David Chan said, excluding the weeks that fell around the lunar new year holidays, the transaction volume was the lowest since November 2005.
Given the uncertain market outlook, buyers were becoming cautious, said Chan. "Even those who want to become homeowners are becoming more conservative and demanding prices a lot lower than owners are asking for. Hence they can't reach agreement and this has caused transactions to fall further."
Ricacorp said Kowloon was the worst-hit area, with only 37 flats sold in 20 housing estates, down by nearly half from the previous week.
"The government intends to resume the Home Ownership Scheme, but there is no detail yet. Potential buyers therefore find it difficult to predict the outlook for the property market," he said.
Secondary prices dropped for the second consecutive week, with Centaline Property Agency's index declining 0.97% to 98.73. — SCMP
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