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Victoria Allan
Victoria Allan is the founder and managing director of real estate agency Habitat Property
Property prices are down and long-term demand is healthy as the Greater Bay Area develops and more mainlanders settle in Hong Kong. Residents with long-term plans can purchase property now without too much competition from overseas investors.
Signs of an influx of returning professionals and newcomers under the recently launched talent scheme provide optimism that the city’s economy, while not fully recovered, is on the way to recovery.
The willingness of firms to reopen offices here, the expected return of residents who fled harsh pandemic restrictions and low interest rates are just some of the reasons sentiment is turning positive after access to Hong Kong was restored.
Hong Kong’s property market is generally volatile, and predicting its course is next to impossible, but against the backdrop of the Ukraine war and wavering stock markets, real estate feels like a safe bet.
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Sentiment is very different from what it was in the past, and different still from what it was last year at this time. For lack of a better word, Hong Kong has entered into a realistic property cycle.
Hong Kong’s property market has a way of adapting to shocks, so don’t be surprised if spots like Red Hill, Regalia Bay and Tai Tam enjoy price gains of up to 10 per cent this year, says Habitat Property’s Victoria Allan.
Hong Kong’s ever resilient property market is having a fruitful 2021 so far. Unprecedented confidence has returned to the market, and sales figures are topping 6,500 per month – not bad for a market that was wracked by uncertainty just 12 months ago.
Hong Kong’s economy in general, and the property market in particular, are not heading for a miraculous rebound, but both will firmly be on a slow, steady road to recovery by spring.
Faster approval processes, the need for more transitional housing and exploiting the Greater Bay Area advantages will be good for Hong Kong in the long run.
With infection numbers averaging in the mostly single digits this month, and business getting back to something resembling ‘as usual’, sentiment revolving around the property market has also improved, and in another display of pent up demand, sales have trended up
Like employers waking up to the potential of more work-at-home staff, people are starting to see the importance of rooftops and terraces as they spend more time at home, writes Victoria Allan of Habitat Property.
With every other kind of sale conducted via the internet these days, it was only a matter of time before real estate fell in line.
The Hong Kong market is going to move week to week rather than quarter to quarter for the foreseeable future. This is not to say the sky is falling and the rug is being pulled out from beneath us – it is just a matter of shifting priorities in what is shaping up to be a post Covid-19 world.
The threat to Hong Kong’s property market is far greater from the Covid-19 outbreak than Sars in 2003. But in these uncertain times real estate is seen as a much better asset than equities.
The city is in the middle of an economy larger than Russia, Australia, Mexico, Indonesia and Switzerland’s combined.
