THE Government is standing firm on measures introduced a year ago to discourage property speculators, says Secretary for Housing Dominic Wong Shing-wah.
Mr Wong said yesterday short-term investors were still working the market.
He told a property seminar that more than 10 per cent of property transactions completed in the first quarter of this year involved speculators - buyers who intended to resell their purchases within one to two years.
Mr Wong said the Government's responsibility was to prevent speculators from coming back into the residential market.
Asked if the Government would cancel anti-speculation policies once the remaining speculators had been driven from the market, Mr Wong said: 'The Government has not made any decision at the moment.' He said the Government did not think harsher restrictions were required as prices had dipped 12 to 13 per cent compared with the peak in April last year.
Mr Wong said developers had not withheld apartment stocks.