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Hong Kong budget 2024-25
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A man uses his photo outside a bank advertising mortgages in Hong Kong on February 28. Hong Kong has dropped all property market curbs in a bid to boost buyer sentiment. Photo: AFP
OpinionLetters

Letters | Hong Kong’s removal of property cooling measures will widen wealth gap

  • Readers question the rationale behind the removal of stamp duties intended to cool the property market, and point to the benefits of the measure
Hong Kong budget 2024-25
Letters
Letters
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How the sudden removal of property cooling measures will benefit Hong Kong residents is surely a question that must be asked.

A flat is first and foremost a home, not an investment vehicle, and as such fulfils the basic human right to shelter.

With waiting times for public housing exceeding five years, providing stimuli to increase the velocity of home sales only further puts out of reach the chance of owning a home for so many in Hong Kong.

Investors will rejoice in the reduced upfront costs of acquiring another fixed asset with a more promising outlook for capital appreciation and yield. Meanwhile the wealth gap will only widen, especially as barriers to foreign buyers are all but removed.

How do these policy changes benefit those that need and want a home versus an asset, considering how ridiculously high property prices are currently?

Simon Constantinides, Sai Kung

Removal of property curbs will boost economy

Many Hongkongers heaved a sigh of relief when Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced the scrapping of all property market cooling measures. For example, parents who already owned a flat of their own but wanted to purchase one for their children to use in the future were subject to additional stamp duty.
The cooling measures were outdated and put the entire real estate market in harm’s way. Now, not only have those measures been scrapped, but mortgage rules have also been relaxed.

On the one hand, some worry that the result will be skyrocketing property prices, pricing first-time buyers out of the market. On the other hand, the government’s decision will give the property market a boost, which will in turn have a positive impact on other areas of the economy.

Overall, I thought the latest budget was quite bold. I don’t believe the financial secretary has taken a massive risk by removing the property market cooling measures.

Randy Lee, Ma On Shan

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