Housing minister warns against 'panic-buying' of flats
Housing chief warns would-be homeowners to bide their time, with new measures set to take effect and supply 'to double' in next few years
Budding homeowners should not panic and rush to buy new flats because supply will double in the coming years, the housing minister said yesterday.
Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the 10 measures announced by the government on Thursday to increase short-term housing supply would be enough to meet demand.
Cheung said in a radio interview that 65,000 new private flats would go on the market in the next three to four years, adding up to 16,000 flats a year.
That will be double the average annual supply for the past four years. "So if people need to buy a home, but not urgently, they don't need to panic and [rush to] buy flats," Cheung said.
Figures showed the public were already following his advice.
Centaline Property Agency said secondary home sales fell 40 per cent over the weekend in the 10 biggest estates it monitors. It recorded only 27 sales, down from 45 the weekend before.
Midland Realty also reported a quieter weekend, reporting 36 sales in the 15 biggest estates it tracks, a fall of 18 per cent.