Hong Kong

Property for sale in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is an autonomous territory in Southeast China. In the past it was a British colony. The urban centre is lively and densely populated and is an important port and global financial hub with a panorama dotted with skyscrapers. The Central District is home to monuments such as Ieoh Ming Pei's Bank of China Tower. Hong Kong is also one of the most famous shopping destinations, renowned for tailor made garments and for the Temple Street night market. It is surrounded by the South China Sea to the east, south and west, and borders the city of Shenzhen, in Guangdong, to the north on the Shenzhen River.

If you have decided to move to Hong Kong or just looking for property for sale in Hong Kong, you should know that the government has introduced a new tax on the vacancy and restrictions on the presale scheme. Still, home prices are expected to rise by a further 7% over the next six months. To preserve sales rates, developers will probably build smaller apartments.

According to the Hong Kong real estate forecast in 2018 mid-year, the upward trend in house prices would slow down in the second half after the government introduced a new vacancy tax and pre-sales tax restrictions. Prices of property for sale in Hong Kong should have gone up by a further 7% over the next six months. To safeguard sales rates, developers will probably build smaller apartments. The average size of the new apartments has already decreased by around 40% in the last 6 years.

Smaller units and cheaper prices with developer financing contributed to strong sales in the primary market in the first half, with developers having managed to sell over 50% of the units launched in most new projects.

At the end of June, the government announced six new initiatives to tackle the housing problems of the city. Among these was the highly speculative holiday tax for the primary market.

The government's decision to introduce further initiatives to address housing issues in the city at a time when interest rates are rising and the current market cycle is already at its last stages and carries risks. When the market changes, all these cooling measures introduced in recent years could intensify any crisis, leading to a free fall in the market. In addition, a growing number of buyers interested in properties for sale in Hong Kong have been based on developer financing, which applies higher interest rates and does not require stress testing on buyers