Flat viewings dwindle, transaction volume slumps as coronavirus infects some residents in Hong Kong housing estates

Flat viewings and transaction volume have dwindled in housing estates affected by coronavirus infection

Hong Kong has15 cases of infection and reported one death on Tuesday, undermining the sales outlook in affected housing estates

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Medical officers in protective gear load a stretcher onto an ambulance outside Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong on January 29, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:00am, 4 Feb 2020Updated: 7:57pm, 4 Feb 2020

The coronavirus outbreak is hurting Hong Kong’s residential property market as flat viewings dwindle and transaction volume shrinks in private housing estates where some infected residents were detected by health authorities.

The pain is being felt amid scenes of city residents making a beeline for face masks at local pharmacies and empty shelves in neighbourhood supermarkets over the past week. Early signs of market revival now seem short-lived as the virus that originated from Wuhan in central Hubei province has claimed more than 420 lives and infected at least 20,000 people, mostly in mainland China.

Hong Kong has 15 confirmed cases and the government has put in place travel restrictions to help contain the epidemic. The Department of Health had earlier revealed that some of the cases were discovered in estates including South Hillcrest in Tuen Mun, Tseung Kwan O Plaza and Oceanaire in Ma On Shan. A 39-year old resident in Whampoa Garden became the first fatality in Hong Kong, the Hospital Authority said on Tuesday.

South Hillcrest in Tuen Mun. Photo: Handout

Transaction volume of homes across Hong Kong in the first half of February is poised to shrink by 50 to 80 per cent amid the epidemic, said Louis Chan, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman and chief executive of residential division at Centaline Property Agency.

“Apart from affecting daily life, it also greatly affects flat viewings of used homes,” Chan added. “It will be down 70 to 80 per cent from viewings in normal times. Developers are also likely to postpone project launches because of the epidemic.”

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