Hong Kong home prices to increase by 15 per cent this year, says Cushman
- Easing concerns about trade war, interest rate increases contribute to rebound
- Prices at City One Sha Tin and Taikoo Shing have recovered by at least 20 per cent in the first three months of 2019
Hong Kong housing prices are likely to increase by at least 15 per cent on average this year, real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield said on Tuesday, as concerns around the US-China trade war and further interest rate hikes ease in the city.
“If tensions from the trade war continue to ease, I believe the market will improve. If not, then it depends on how bad [the trade war could get],” said Alva To, Cushman’s vice-president, Greater China, and Head of Consulting, Greater China.
“But really, there are only two experts right now [on the economy], the two presidents,” said To, referring to China’s Xi Jinping and the US’s Donald Trump.
A multi-year bull run in Hong Kong’s property market came to an end in August last year, with a cumulative loss of 9.2 per cent in home prices by the end of December 2018.
But prices in popular residential areas such as City One Sha Tin and Taikoo Shing have recovered by at least 20 per cent in the first three months of 2019, their fastest pace in 10 years. Research by Cushman showed prices at City One Sha Tin had recovered by 28.3 per cent, just 4.6 per cent shy of a peak of HK$19,500 per square foot in August 2018.
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According to Hong Kong’s Land Registry, the sales and purchases of homes more than doubled in January 2019 from 2,060 transactions in December last year. And Cushman estimates this number will pick up in March to 6,800 transactions, or an increase of 36 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2018.