Hong Kong home prices might surge by 10 per cent this year, says sales head at Henderson
Land and home prices in the city have risen consistently since the fourth quarter of 2016
Hong Kong, the world’s most expensive real estate market, could see home prices rise by another 10 per cent this year after a 14 per cent gain last year, according to the head of sales at one of the city’s largest developers.
The projection reflects the higher cost of land acquired two years ago, said Thomas Lam Tat-man, general manager of the Number One sales department of Henderson Property Agency, a unit of Henderson Land Development.
“I expect home prices to rise some 10 per cent for the whole of this year,” he said on Friday after a Lunar New Year event. “It is a reflection of soaring prices of land sold over 20 months ago via government land sales or secondary market sales.”
Land and home prices have been rising consistently since the fourth quarter of 2016, he said. The Centa-City Leading Index, which tracks the city’s secondary private home prices, has risen by about 20 per cent since the fourth quarter of 2016.
Prices of previously owned homes rose for a 21st month in December, according to the Rating and Valuation Department, their longest stretch of gains since 1993, driven by demand for small and more affordable flats.
Lam said Henderson Property Agency plans to launch 3,000 new homes this year, mostly in urban districts, including a project in Aberdeen next month. Lunar New Year discounts of HK$10,888 to HK$68,888 – available until March 5 – on some flats in five projects were announced by Lam on Friday.
Other developers have also offered discounts to drum up sales during the Lunar New Year holiday, a traditional low season for home purchases.