Ten of the largest private developments in Hong Kong have seen a decline in transactions of used apartments for the second consecutive week, as sellers held out for their listed asking prices following back-to-back government land auctions that beat estimates.
The week that ended on Sunday saw 36 transactions in 10 housing complexes, including Mei Foo Sun Chuen on the Kowloon Peninsula and Taikoo Shing in the Island East, compared with 40 deals a week ago, said Centaline Property Agency.
The government earlier increased down-payment ratios and said it will intensify land supply amidst concerns that housing is becoming too expensive, following a 45 percent increase since the beginning of last year.
“The government measures seem to have cooled down the market a bit as they have made speculation costlier,” said Jonas Kan, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.
“We’re expecting transactions to stay flat for a while. Anything further down the road will depend on what their next round of announcements is going to be.”
The government is doing close monitoring on the real estate market and may unveil more measures to curb prices if they continue to increase, Chinese newspaper Ming Pao quoted Financial Secretary John Tsang as saying in written responses to questions from the paper.
Developers will build approximately 61,000 apartments over the next three years as part of the plan to increase supply, said Mr. Tsang according to a government transcript.
Hong Kong saw home sales climbed 33 percent by value last month, the highest in nearly three years, as the number of deals completed in the first half of the month overshadowed the decline in the second half, according to the Land Registry.
“There’s a mixture of good and bad news,” said Louis Chan, managing director for residential property at Centaline. “The market will still be looking for direction in September.”