Editorial | Authorities must ensure halt to land sales is temporary
- Hong Kong’s property market may in the doldrums now, but the government’s job is to look at the big picture; longer term, supply must resume to meet housing needs and raise revenue for mega projects
To sell or not to sell – that is the question weighing on the minds of many property owners as the gloomy outlook continues to dent market confidence. The dilemma is even greater when it comes to land sales by the Hong Kong government.
The latest decision to effectively halt the sale of residential and commercial plots may seem inconsistent with officials’ pledge to boost land supply and resolve the chronic housing crunch. But the truth is that even the firmest policy commitment cannot escape market reality checks.
Officials conceded that the suspension was partly related to the weak property market.
“Market sentiment [towards] land tenders is rather sluggish recently, the government will not separately put up any residential sites for sale in the fourth quarter,” said Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho, adding that supply had nearly met the annual target.
No commercial land will be rolled out either because of the high vacancy rate. Only a 3.2-hectare industrial site earmarked for multi-storey buildings for modern industries will be up for grabs.
The de facto moratorium, the first in more than a decade, has come as a surprise to the property sector. But, after a series of failed tenders over the year, this is understandably a pragmatic step to take.