bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

The sharp 6.2 per cent fall last week in the Hang Seng Index had a limited impact on sentiment in the property market, according to Willy Liu Wai-keung, a managing director at estate agency Ricacorp Properties.
Secondary market transactions in the 50 key housing estates monitored by Ricacorp Properties totalled 712 units, down 8.7 per cent from 780 units sold  in the previous week.
But Mr Liu said the drop was unrelated to the slump on the stock market and largely reflected the results of a traditional low season in the real estate market before the Lunar New Year.
Transactions in the 20 key housing estates in Kowloon dropped 12.1 per cent to 283 units, the data shows, while in 21 key housing estates in the New Territories deals were down 8.8 per cent to 320 units.
The nine key housing estates on Hong Kong Island saw 109 units change hands, up slightly by 2 per cent.
Housing prices have now remained on an upward trend for 22 consecutive weeks, although growth rates have slowed to 0.5 per cent after a rapid jump of 3.4 per cent in the week between January 7 and January 13.
Ricacorp estimated that units currently listed for sale comprised just 60 to 70 per cent of normal numbers, as many owners were tending to hold on to their properties in the hope of selling at higher prices later. Transaction numbers would therefore remain relatively stable in the coming weeks, it forecast.
However, Pauline Cheung Pui-lui, research manager at Midland Realty, expects Hong Kong's banks will follow the likely rate cut in the United States at the end of the month, which may be as large as 75 basis points.
She believes this will stimulate transactions in the secondary market despite the traditional low season.
In the primary market, transactions remained low at around 40 units  last weekend.  Ricacorp's Mr Liu believed the lack of a focal point for buyers had resulted in the low figure.
Also, people were taking a wait-and-see attitude  and would likely jump on board after the Lunar New Year, when more projects would be launched, he said.



Stock market fall seen having limited impact on sentiment