Hong kong property sales slide

Photo: Sanfamedia.com

Sales of residential property in Hong Kong slipped almost 30 per cent in February 2015, following another round of austerity measures.

Sales fell 28.2 per cent month-on-month, according to Knight Frank, with the biggest impact felt in the sub-HK$10 million sector (luxury sales fell only 16.2 per cent). Indeed, the tightening measures implemented by the Hong Kong officials to tackle the housing problem are focused on properties worth below HK$7 million.

Despite this clamp-down, though, prices jumped 2.6 per cent in March 2015.

"To tackle the housing problem in Hong Kong, Knight Frank believes that the government should not focus on supressing housing demand, but effectively increase housing supply and provide assistance to first time home buyers," says the report.

"The government should ease restrictions on mortgage lending for first time and young home buyers, perhaps by following the example of Singapore which has applied age conditions on housing mortgage loans."