The Hong Kong government is planning to reintroduce the development of subsidised flats, said Chief Executive Donald Tsang on 15 July.
Prices of apartment units in the city-state have climbed 12 percent since the start of the year, according to real estate agency Centaline, mainly attributed to low mortgages and brisk demand from wealthy Chinese buyers.
However, the pace of increase has slowed compared with last year, after the government implemented tough property measures, such as special stamp duties for short-term transactions, lower loan-to-value (LTV) ratios and a commitment to increase land supply.
“Housing prices have more or less steadied after our measures the last time,” said Tsang, in parliament. “I believe the housing sector will develop steadily for some time.”
Tsang is expected to give his annual policy speech in October, with the property market observing whether the government will resume the implementation of the Home Ownership Scheme to provide affordable housing to eligible buyers.
The scheme is a subsidised housing programme to give low-income residents the chance to own flats at a discounted rate of between 30 and 40 percent.
The government halted the construction and sale of subsidised flats in November 2002 but in 2007, it resumed the sale of HOS flats that had been built but not sold.
It also implemented new measures in June, the fourth set of property measures since October 2009, to curb property prices, doubling the supply of land available for building public flats and tightening mortgage restrictions.
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