Land Registry figures confirm property surge

Government monthly property sales and purchase figures have confirmed a strong home-buying spree last month, with transactions 72 per cent higher than in April.

Land Registry figures released yesterday showed 16,538 sale and purchase agreements last month.

The figure was similar to preliminary statistics released by Centaline Property Agency on Monday.

Year-on-year, the May figures represent an increase of 41.7 per cent in activity to the highest level since July, 1993.

The value of agreements rose 57.8 per cent from April to $46.6 billion and was up 27.8 per cent against May last year.

Midland Realty executive director Joseph Ling Kwok-fai said the strong sales were mainly due to improved market sentiment in April and May, aggressive marketing by developers and mortgage rates cut to as low as 9 per cent.