Hong Kong home sales hit 20-month high, with return of mainland Chinese buyers, property tax cut boosting sentiment

Besides an improvement in overall investment sentiment, a cut in ad valorem stamp duty rates has also fuelled a surge in transaction volume, CBRE executive says

High-end market should outperform the mass market, as it is less vulnerable to macroeconomic issues, Habitat Property’s Victoria Allan says

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Listings for residential properties for sale at a real estate agency in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 7:21pm, 18 Apr 2023

Hong Kong home sales reached 6,690 units in March, a 20-month high, as improved sentiment and a property tax cut boosted transactions, according to property consultancy CBRE.

Homes priced between HK$4 million (US$510,000) and HK$5 million in particular accounted for 16.5 per cent of the total number of transactions in the first quarter, higher than their share of transactions of between 10.5 per cent and 13.9 per cent in the same quarter since 2020, according to the latest report by the consultancy.

“Besides improvement in overall investment sentiment, the government’s move on lowering ad valorem stamp duty rates also fuelled the surge in transaction volume,” said Eddie Kwok, senior director, valuation and advisory services, CBRE Hong Kong.

The reopening of the border with mainland China had boosted hopes that Hong Kong’s battered property market would pick up, with wealthy mainland Chinese buyers able to inspect homes for purchase and companies more willing to expand or set up operations in the city, potentially bolstering the tenant pool as more talent relocates.

The latest numbers are proving that these hopes were not unfounded.