Mainland Chinese buyers’ first-half Hong Kong market share soars 10-fold as migrants pour in

Name: Beauty in plain sight: why Hong Kong's public housing estates are worth a closer look
Uploaded: 2024-07-17T00:30:08.000Z
Duration: 3 min 28 s
Description: Beauty in plain sight: why Hong Kong's public housing estates are worth a closer look

The amount spent by mainland buyers on homes jumped 42 per cent, while they accounted for 70 per cent more transactions year on year, according to Centaline

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Prices of new and lived-in homes are listed at a property agency in Tin Hau. Photo: Jelly Tse

Cheryl Arcibal

Published: 8:30am, 17 Jul 2024Updated: 10:15am, 17 Jul 2024

Buyers from mainland China are a force to be reckoned with in Hong Kong Kong’s property market.

Mainlanders spent a record HK$70.5 billion (US$9.03 billion) in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 42 per cent, on new and lived-in homes, according to Centaline Property Agency, one of the largest real estate consultancies in the city.

They accounted for 6,117 deals, also a record and 70 per cent higher from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the property agency. Buyers from the mainland accounted for one in five residential transactions in the city from January to June.

In 1997, when homes in the city sold for an average of HK$7,808 (US$1,000) per square foot, mainlanders only accounted for 1 to 2 per cent of residential transactions.

“Mainland buyers choose to buy property in Hong Kong for many reasons, including immigration and settlement, investment and for education purposes,” Louis Chan Wing-kit, CEO of the residential division of Centaline, said on Tuesday.

The surge in property demand from mainlanders came after the government scrapped the decade-old property market curbs in February, giving the market an immediate boost. The government withdrew the Buyer’s Stamp Duty that targeted non-permanent residents and a New Residential Stamp Duty for second-time purchasers. Homeowners were also given a reprieve from paying Special Stamp Duty if they sold within two years.

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Beauty in plain sight: why Hong Kong's public housing estates are worth a closer look