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Yvonne Liu

New home supply in Hong Kong fell to a record low in the first half, which analysts said could help shield the property market from the global economic slowdown.
According to Transport and Housing Bureau figures, construction was started on 1,100 units in the first six months, 39 per cent lower than the 1,800 units in the same period last year.
In the second quarter, 600 units were completed, taking the half-year figures to 1,600 units in the first half, compared with 2,900 a year ago.
Charles Chan Chiu-kwok, the managing director of Savills Valuation and Professional Services, said limited new supply would help support the property market amid the slowing global economy and volatile stock market.
'Property prices will rise sharply once the economy outlook turns positive,' Mr Chan said.
Two new major projects were launched in the second quarter for contracted sales, including Celestial Heights by Cheung Kong (Holdings) in Ma Tau Wai and Sino Land's Palazzo in Fo Tan. They received strong demand while other developers mainly cleared unsold units.
Despite the new projects, the number of units available for sale, including unsold completed units and those under construction, dropped to 50,000 at the end of the second quarter from 52,000 at the end of March.
An additional 42,000 units were being built and not yet launched for sale by the end of last month, 1,000 units fewer than a quarter ago.
JP Morgan property analyst Raymond Ngai said  property prices had been stable, despite falling transactions over the past few months. The trend was expected to continue in the second half.
Wong Leung-shing, an associate director for research at Centaline, expected prices to fall up to 5 per cent in the third quarter.
'The property market is benefiting from the limited new supply. Prices will drop more than 5 per cent if supply is plenty,' Mr Wong said.
Mr Chan said new supply was unlikely to jump in the second half. However, the market would be adversely affected if tightened supply continued in the next three to five years.
He said the government should improve the land application list system to encourage developers to trigger more sites for sale.



Record-low new home supply helps support market amid slowdown