Hong Kong likely to miss its official home supply target this year
Completion of new flats fell to 3,300 units during the July to September period from 5,600 in the previous quarter
The Hong Kong government is likely to miss its annual home supply target this year as completion of new flats in the third quarter plunged 41 per cent compared with the second quarter.
But analysts said supply is on track to pick up the pace again starting in 2017, after new home starts in the first three quarters of this year hit the highest level since 2000.
Completion of new flats fell to 3,300 units during the July to September period, bringing the total in the first three quarters to 10,700 units, according to the city’s Transport and Housing Bureau.
Newly built homes in the first quarter stood at 1,800 units but jumped sharply to 5,600 units in the second quarter, the official data released on Friday showed.
In a move to regulate the housing market, the government has pledged to increase land supply so as to produce 20,000 new units per year.
“Taking into account the sharp decline in new homes in the third quarter, it is unlikely that the annual completion will jump to an average at the 20,000 level,” said Cliff Tse, regional director of valuation advisory services at international property consultant JLL.
Hong Kong-based property agent Midland Realty predicted that annual completion this year will be around 17,000 units. The government’s Rating and Valuation Department earlier estimated a supply of 18,203 units this year.