The View | The allure and pitfalls of property in Hong Kong

Yet another attempt was made this week to increase the level of home ownership in Hong Kong. It came in a proposal for selling new public housing to occupants and was made by Tung Chee-hwa’s Our Hong Kong think tank.
Despite the proposals’ provenance initial government response was lukewarm, presumably because it may not serve property developer’s interests.
However this subject is most unlikely to disappear anytime soon because the whole subject of property is a matter of obsessive interest in Hong Kong and for good reason.
Hong Kong is not alone in focusing on property matters; indeed this is the one form of investment that has even the smallest investors in every corner of the planet paying attention. The most obvious reason for this is that for most people an investment is property is likely to be the biggest investment they will ever make and, when it comes to home ownership this purchase can make a crucial difference between an individual’s financial wellbeing or otherwise.
Everyone with half a brain knows how important it is for people to purchase the home they live in. Unfortunately this is well beyond the reach of at least half of Hong Kong’s population yet home ownership remains as a widespread aspiration and has been shown to contribute to social stability and the well being of those fortunate enough to have made this purchase.
It is also possible to argue that because of the unusual mix of an investment and personal use, home ownership is in a class of its own among investment categories. Moreover once the property bug bites one thing tends to lead another and that is why property ownership can be a bit like chocolate consumption where one bite rarely suffices.
People on the property ladder or aspiring to get there are known to suspend normal considerations about the basic requirements of a good investment and dwell on all sorts of emotional and other factors that detract from the fundamental purpose of making money, which, last time I looked, was the underpinning of any investment strategy.