Hong Kong home sales spike as locals jump in to buy
Residential rally expected to continue but secondary market could slow as developers step up marketing of new home projects
Home sales rebounded sharply last month, driven by local buyers unaffected by the government's new stamp duty provisions targeting overseas and corporate investors.
Fuelled by excess liquidity and low interest rates, agents say the sales momentum will extend to next month as residential transactions continue to grow.
The number of residential transactions jumped 65.2 per cent to 5,430 from December, while the total value of deals surged 66.3 per cent to HK$28.5 billon, data released by the Land Registry on Monday showed.
Some buyers were willing to increase their offers to match the increases sought by sellers and deals were now being sealed faster
"Flat hunters stormed back into the market after they saw home prices showed no signs of falling. In addition, the overall improvement in the stock market also helped to restore buying confidence," Ricacorp Properties research head Patrick Chow Moon-kit said.
Chow said home sales would continue to rise as a growing number of people preferred to park their money in real estate as a hedge against inflation.
"Some buyers were willing to increase their offers to match the increases sought by sellers and deals were now being sealed faster," he said.
According to Many Wells Property Agent, a buyer agreed to paid HK$4.3 million, or HK$8,398 per square foot of saleable area, for a 512 square foot flat at Chelsea Heights in Tuen Mun, the most expensive deal for a property of that size in the housing estate.