Opinion | Will an ageing Hong Kong stop the property bull in its tracks?

Things that make you go hmmm…

As a young investment bank analyst who really should have known better, I met a couple of institutional clients back in mid-1997, and earnestly explained why I felt Hong Kong’s property prices could not possibly fall.

Land constraints, abundant liquidity, low real interest rates, and ample funding all meant, said I, that Hong Kong’s property sector was essentially immune from the chaos then devastating economies across the rest of Asia.

One of these gentlemen fixed me with a gimlet eye and said “hmmm”. The rest, as they say, is history.

Recently I’ve been having the same “hmmm” moment towards the city’s property market, particularly after listening to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s maiden policy address to the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

Her Starter Homes initiative is admirable, but is only necessary – in my view - because it would seem the government has neither the ability nor the willingness to intervene and check the vertiginous price rise in the property market in any meaningful way.