Projected Hong Kong private home supply raised to record 78,000
Government accelerates land sales as number of flats under construction slides 75 per cent
The projected supply of private homes in Hong Kong has been raised to a record high of 78,000 for the coming three to four years as the government accelerates land sales.
Analysts said an increased annual supply had become a trend, but one that was unlikely to stem rising home prices in the short term.
The Transport and Housing Bureau announced the official figures in a report on new private housing supply for the first quarter of the year.
Some 78,000 new homes are projected to be put on the market over the next three to four years, an increase of 4,000 flats from the estimate made in the bureau's previous quarterly report.
Meanwhile, the number of flats under construction in the first quarter of the year fell 75 per cent to 2,000 from the 8,000 reported in the first quarter of last year. The number of flat completions fell to 200, from 2,900 flats in the same period last year.
Property consultants put the declines in first-quarter flats under construction and flat completions down to differences in developers' construction schedules. They say supply will increase significantly in the second half of the year because the government has been increasing land supply.