21-year high – Hong Kong property sales expected to touch US$51 billion in first six months this year

Property sales in Hong Kong are expected to touch HK$400 billion (US$50.96 billion) – a 21-year high – in the first half this year, as one after another homes, office towers and parking spaces set records in the world’s most expensive real estate market, according to Centaline Property Agency.

“People are optimistic about robust economic development in the city, and we expect sales to continue to grow,” said Wong Leung-sing, associate director of research at Centaline Property.

Sammy Po, chief executive of Midland Realty, another Hong Kong brokerage, however said the “panic buying” was the result of an acute land shortage. “People are worried that if they do not buy now, they will not be able to afford [the property] later,” he said. “It will continue unless the government can boost land supply.”

The record for the first half of the year was reported in 1997, when property transactions hit HK$483.58 billion.

Centaline Property estimates the total number of deals will be around 46,500 by the end of this month, 13.5 per cent higher than the second half of 2017, a record high since 2014. The sales of private new residential property alone are forecast to touch 2000 deals worth HK$27.5 billion this month, the highest level recorded in the past 14 months, according to the agency.

Midland Realty, on the other hand, said it anticipated that 2,500 new flats would be sold in the city in June.