Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices fall to 7-month low in November amid stock market slump
- The city’s lived-in home prices dropped to 391.5 last month, down 1.18 per cent from October, according to government data
- This marks the steepest decline since February 2020, when prices retreated 1.65 per cent
Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices fell to a seven-month low in November after peaking in August, as buyers were put off by the stock market slump and a looming interest rate increase in the United States.
Prices dropped to 391.5 last month, down 1.18 per cent from October, according to an index published by the city’s Rating and Valuation Department on Wednesday.
That marked the steepest decline since February 2020, when prices retreated 1.65 per cent, according to the government data.
“The Hang Seng Index dropped 16 per cent year to date, performing among the bottom five [of bourses] in the world,” said Raymond Cheng, head of China and Hong Kong research at CGS-CIMB Securities. “This will affect home-buying interest for used flats, particularly those for larger lump sum amounts.”
Cheng predicted homeowners to lower their asking prices because of the potential interest rate rise in the US next year and fewer mainland Chinese buyers in the market amid the deferred border reopening.
Rising interest rates are expected to slow the pace of growth for home prices, he said. Hong Kong’s monetary policy runs in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve, which has foreshadowed three rate increases of 25 basis points each in 2022, followed by three increases in 2023 and two in 2024.