Hong Kong buyers’ interest in Japanese property cools in the short term after Osaka quake
Property agents, estimating transaction volumes in June to drop by a quarter, say it will take one to two weeks for interest to pick up again
A strong earthquake in Osaka this week has not only rattled Japan’s second-largest city, but also shaken Hong Kong buyers’ growing interest in Japanese property in the short term, according to real estate agents.
“One of our clients was paying a visit there, making the final decision among several properties, but came across the earthquake and decided to hold off,” said Michael Cheung, branch manager of Trusty Japan Realty, which specialises in selling Japanese property in Hong Kong.
The 6.1 magnitude quake on Monday has killed four people and injured hundreds more, as well as shattered windows, brought down walls and created chaos in the Japanese city.
Cheung said many existing clients had called to learn more about the situation, with as many as 100 enquiries received within two days. The flats owned by these clients were largely unaffected, he said.
A cloud would hang over the business in the next one to two weeks for the market to get over the news, and the 35 to 40 deals expected to be completed this month would represent a 25 per cent drop from May, Cheung said.
“It is just a short time of sudden panic,” he said, adding that the deal number should return to a normal level soon as most potential buyers of Japanese property are aware that Japan is an earthquake-prone country.