Hong Kong’s homebuyers return in droves as banks kept mortgage rates unchanged amid a dovish monetary policy
- Across the city, 607 flats were offered for open sale by four developers in Lohas Park, To Kwan Wan, Yau Tong and West Kowloon
- Thousands of people queued for the 294 properties on offer at New World’s Artisan Garden
Hong Kong’s property buyers are back in droves, as commercial banks kept the city’s mortgage rates unchanged amid a dovish policy stance by the local monetary authority.
Across the city, four property projects with 607 flats in total were offered for sale in Lohas Park, To Kwa Wan, Yau Tong and West Kowloon in the biggest weekend launch in a year. As of 8pm, 496 of the total offering, or nearly 82 per cent, had been sold, according to sales agents.
“The purchasing power accumulated from months of pent-up demand had been released,” said Midland Realty’s residential division chief executive Sammy Po, who noted that five buyers had each bought two flats for a weekend shopping bill of between HK$12 million and HK$13 million.
Hong Kong’s property bull market had been struggling to regain its footing since prices stumbled last August following the city government’s plan to use a vacancy tax to bolster supply. The weekend’s brisk sales – combined with a slight increase in pricing – stoked concerns that housing affordability may return as a problem, after five months of cooling off.
Still, eight months after prices began to dip, many buyers were already jumping back into the market, especially for newer projects like New World Development’s Artisan Garden project in To Kwa Wan, which drew 3,700 bids for 294 available units.
