The number of property transactions in Hong Kong’s resale market will likely decline this year, as the government continues to curb speculation in the red-hot property market, according to real estate agency Centaline.
The number of private home deals in the resale market will decline to 90,000 transactions this year, down from 110,000 transactions in 2010, said Centaline.
“With the government eagerly clamping down on property speculation, activity in the property market will likely fall this year,” said Wong Leung-shing, an analyst from Centaline.
Property transactions in 10 of HK’s major residential estates increased 41.8 percent to HK$90.44 billion in 2010, hitting the highest level since the height of the property boom in 1997, Centaline said.
There were a total of 9,916 transactions in HK’s key estates, up a quarter from 2009, which also hit a 13-year peak.
The city-state is home to some of the world’s most expensive real estate due to the constant demand from wealthy mainland Chinese, as well as low mortgage rates. This led the International Monetary Fund to urge the HK government to implement cooling measures to curb speculative buying.
HK’s property sub-index rose 6.5 percent last year, surpassing the Hang Seng index’s 5.3 percent.