Recent data on property deals in Hong Kong has revealed a decrease in demand over the last 12 months, according to a report by The Standard.
Property transactions in May totalled 12,536, an increase of 20.7 percent from April, but declined 5.9 percent from last year.
A Land Registry official noted that the month-on-month increase in property transactions was due to a higher supply of flats on the market.
Transactions for residential units comprised 77 percent of the deals in May, an increase of 26.8 percent from the previous month but a decrease of 12.1 percent in 2010.
Meanwhile, the value of property deals in May grew 18.9 percent from April to HK$63.1 billion, with HK$49.4 billion from residential transactions. This signifies an increase of 26.8 percent from April.
Buggle Lau Ka-fai, Chief Analyst of Midland Realty, said, “new flats have been flooding the market, and their sales went well to push up the registration numbers in May.”
In line with this, several banks have now lifted HIBOR-based mortgage rates.
HSBC raised its rate to HIBOR plus 1.5 percent to two percent on May 13, from HIBOR plus 1 percent to 1.5 percent. Other banks, such as Bank of China and Standard Chartered Bank, also increased their rates.
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