NewHong Kong property stocks tumble as government warns of housing bubble
Hong Kong property stocks fell across the board after the housing minister and the head of Hong Kong Monetary Authority warned cooling measures would be taken to avert a housing bubble.
Hong Kong property stocks fell across the board after the housing minister and the head of Hong Kong Monetary Authority warned cooling measures would be taken to avert a housing bubble.
“The sector saw a correction which demonstrated investors got worried that further curbs will be rolled out to rein in runaway home prices,” said Li Kwok-suen, a manager at Philip Capital Management Fund.
The sector saw a correction which demonstrated investors got worried that further curbs will be rolled out to rein in runaway home prices
Major property players such as Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 1.88 per cent to close at HK$125; Henderson Land Development eased 1.77 per cent to HK$55.5; Sino Land lost 3.04 per cent to HK$12.74 and Cheung Kong (Holdings) fell 0.53 per cent to HK$148.8.
The recent surge in home prices to fresh highs nearly every day have triggered government concerns with Secretary for Transport and Housing Authority Cheung Bing-leung saying all necessary steps would be taken to prevent the local housing market from overheating.
On the same day, Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam said there is room for more anti-cyclical measures should an upward cycle be confirmed.
Li said property shares had been jumped more than 10 per cent in the past two weeks as increasing number of small-sized flats sold for record prices. “It is time for investors to take profit and shift the capital to other sectors,” he said.
Flat prices at Kingswood Villas in Tin Shui Wai, near the Shenzhen border, climbed to a record with a 441 square foot flat at Maywood Court going for HK$3.81 million, or HK$8,639 per square foot, according to agents.
Alfred Lau, an analyst at Bocom International, expects nearly 7,000 units would be delivered to buyers in the first quarter this year. When buyers received the keys, he said they would move in to the new flats and release the old units for re-sale in the secondary market. For investors, they would offer the new flats for leasing.
“It means that supply of flats for rent and for re-sale will increase as early as next month,” he said.
He expected residential rents could fall by 5 per cent and home prices to drop by 10 per cent before taking into account the potential US rate hike later this year.
