Hong Kong property market is on an upwards trajectory after faster-than-expected rebound in first quarter
- After ‘heated’ first quarter, sector heading for ‘season of trading’, industry insiders say
- Overall property transactions soared 79.2 per cent in the January to March period: Centaline
The Hong Kong property market rebounded faster than expected in the first quarter, despite rising unemployment and a historic economic contraction.
And brokers as well as developers alike expect the upwards trajectory to continue, as homebuyers plough profits made on a surging stock market into property. They said the buyers were keen to snap up bargains before the border with mainland China opens again, and prices start to rise.
“The seasonal boom [after] Lunar New Year appeared early this year,” said Wong Leung-sing, senior associate director of research at Centaline Property Agency. “Recently, turnover across different districts has stayed heated. It is possible that the number of overall transactions could reach a high level of 10,000 in April” alone, he added.
The rebound is significant because overall property transactions fell by 20.6 per cent from 26,475 in the second quarter of 2019, before Hong Kong’s protests and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, to 21,026 in the fourth quarter last year.
Overall property transactions, including residential, commercial and industrial properties, and parking spaces, soared 79.2 per cent in the January to March period to 22,840 from 12,744 a year ago, according to Centaline. This number is the highest since the second quarter of 2019.
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The number of homes changing hands also rose, jumping 77.7 per cent to 18,131 in the first quarter from 10,204 in the same period a year ago, Centaline data shows. This too is the highest since the second quarter of 2019, when 20,657 homes were sold.
The property agency’s price index for lived-in homes, the Centa-City Leading Index, edged up 0.5 per cent from late March to early April to a 36-week high of 181.3. The gauge is a better indicator of prices than the official index from Hong Kong’s Rating and Valuation Department, which is one month late. Centaline said it expected the index to climb continuously to a peak of 190 in mid-2021.