The worsening US and European debt crisis is affecting the property market outlook.
Homeowners in Taikoo Shing, a benchmark project in Hong Kong, were unable to draw buyers, even after reducing their asking prices by up to 20 percent.
Gary Wong, District Agent at Ricacorp said, “It is happening more frequently of late, especially with flats priced over HK$8 million.”
“It is a struggle between homeowners and buyers. We are seeing more potential buyers asking for bigger bargains each time, but ending up not buying as they are worried about the local and global economies,” he added.
Similarly, homeowners are reluctant to put their properties on the market, as they are not confident of securing a low mortgage rate or acquiring another property at a favourable price.
Flat viewing in the district fell by at least 60 percent over the weekend, with The Belcher’s in the Western District experiencing hardly any transactions.
Centaline agent Derek Lau commented,” On average, homeowners are slashing two to three percent (off prices) but buyers are asking for a seven to 10 percent bargain. The gap between the two sides is getting wider everyday.”
Midland Realty noted that transactions at its 10 benchmark residential projects fell from 31 a week ago to 24 over the weekend. Laguna City and Kornhill reported no transactions.
Buggle Lau Ka-fai, Chief Analyst at Midland said, “Transactions only fell by 23 percent, far less than the 80 percent drop after the government’s implementation of the special stamp duties.”
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