New homes in hong kong hit record high

Photo: Design Boom

The latest government estimates forecast 74,000 new homes will be put up for sale in the next three to four years, a record for supply of new build property in Hong Kong.

The forecast follows a second report that home prices in Home Kong's secondary market will also climb to a new peak. Officials have already introduced a wave of cooling measures to hold back apartment prices, and is now aiming to boost the land supply to help alleviate the housing shortage. Indeed, parcels of land in Tseung Kwan O and Tai Po have both attracted a dozen developers looking to build.

At present, 60,000 of the 74,000 units are under construction with 5,000 unsold but completed.

Wong Leung-sing, an associate director of research at Centaline, tells the South China Morning Post that developers should be able to sell 17,000 units this year, the most since 2007.

Indeed, developers have already sold more than 11,800 units in the first nine months of 2014, according to data from Midland Realty, a rise of 18 per cent year-on-year.

Prices are still expected to keep climbing, though, despite the boost in supply, says the agency's Chief Analyst, Bulle Lau Ka-fai: "Such a high level of supply coupled with a potential interest rate hike will add to pressure on home prices."