Hong Kong’s sales agents face a bleak year end, with 8,000 jobs on the line, as months of rallies crimp property transactions
- Analysts say Hong Kong’s property market this year will see the least number of deals since the Sars outbreak in 2003
- Homeowners are cutting prices by at least 10 per cent in the hope of making a sale
Some 8,000 agents face “elimination” as the prolonged protests and US-China trade war hasten the decline in Hong Kong’s property prices and shrink transactions amid a lack of buying interest.
“In the last two weeks, the extent of decline has sped up,” said Sammy Po, chief executive of the residential division at Midland Realty, adding that some homeowners were willing to slash prices by 10 per cent or more in the hope of finding buyers quickly.
“There are about 40,000 agents. We estimate there will be a total of about 4,000 to 5,000 deals a month, which means about 10 agents will compete for each deal [per month].”
The secondary market will be the hardest hit, with only about 40,000 deals taking place this year, the lowest since records began in 1996, said Freddie Wong, chairman of Midland Holdings.