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Business Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Hong Kong home prices snap falling streak in April
[HONG KONG] Hong Kong's home prices ended four months of decline and edged up in April, government figures showed on Wednesday (May 28), as falling mortgage rates helped lift buying sentiment. Private home prices rose 0.4 per cent in April from the month before, following a revised 0.3 per cent fall in March, data from the Rating and Valuation Department showed. The prices have dropped 1.2 per cent so far this year to their lowest level since 2016. Home prices in Hong Kong, one of the world's most unaffordable cities, have tumbled nearly 30 per cent from a 2021 peak, hurt by higher mortgage rates, a weak economic outlook, and poor demand as many professionals have left the territory. Authorities tried to prop up the sector last year, lifting all curbs on property purchases and relaxing down payment ratios, but housing demand has remained soft. Realtors forecast home prices in 2025 could rise or fall by 5 per cent, depending on the pace of official rate cuts and the severity of trade tensions between China and the United States. Eddie Kwok, executive director of real estate consultancy CBRE, said if the interbank rate continues to fall, the residential property market may see a recovery as it may cost less to repay mortgage as compared to rent. One-month Hong Kong dollar interbank rate Hibor, which many of the mortgage plans are linked to, hit a fresh three-year low this week, making mortgage rates more affordable for home buyers. REUTERS
RTHK
28-05-2025
- Business
- RTHK
HK home prices rebound 0.35pc in April
HK home prices rebound 0.35pc in April A valuation expert says significant rebounds in property prices are still unlikely this year as developers may continue to cut prices. Photo: RTHK Hong Kong's lived-in home prices rebounded in April, capping a four-month decline. Official figures released by the Rating and Valuation Department on Wednesday showed that the home price index rose to 285.7 in April, up 0.35 percent from a month earlier, but that was still 7.7 percent lower from a year ago. For the first four months of the year, however, the gauge declined 1.21 percent. While prices of small and medium-sized units rose by 0.35 percent month on month on average, that for large units rose higher, 0.42 percent. Rental prices, meanwhile, continued to head north for the fifth consecutive month, and rose by 0.31 percent to 193.7 last month, or 3.64 percent higher over a year ago. For the first four months, the rental gauge was up by 0.62 percent. Commenting on the figures, Eddie Kwok, executive director of valuation and advisory services at CBRE Hong Kong, said residential prices had stabilised and were bottoming out. "Positive carry for residential properties resurfaces as the one-month Hong Kong interbank offered rate [Hibor] dropped in May," he said. The one-month Hibor rate, which is linked to local mortgage loans, fell to its lowest point in nearly three years last week, thanks to a flood of liquidity entering the city's capital markets. "If this trend can be sustained, the residential property market is likely to experience a recovery as it might cost less to repay mortgages as compared to renting," Kwok said. "And this is likely to attract buy-to-lease investors and end-users entering the residential property market eventually." But Kwok noted that significant rebounds in prices are still unlikely this year as developers that are keen to clear out their mounting inventories might take the opportunity to replenish their capital and continue to cut prices. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has warned that Hibor rates may still rebound.
New Straits Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Hong Kong home prices snap falling streak in April
HONG KONG: Hong Kong's home prices ended four months of decline and edged up in April, government figures showed on Wednesday, as falling mortgage rates helped lift buying sentiment. BY THE NUMBERS Private home prices rose 0.4 per cent in April from the month before, following a revised 0.3 per cent fall in March, data from the Rating and Valuation Department showed. The prices have dropped 1.2 per cent so far this year to their lowest level since 2016. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Home prices in Hong Kong, one of the world's most unaffordable cities, have tumbled nearly 30 per cent from a 2021 peak, hurt by higher mortgage rates, a weak economic outlook, and poor demand as many professionals have left the territory. Authorities tried to prop up the sector last year, lifting all curbs on property purchases and relaxing down payment ratios, but housing demand has remained soft. MARKET COMMENTS Realtors forecast home prices in 2025 could rise or fall by 5 per cent, depending on the pace of official rate cuts and the severity of trade tensions between China and the United States. Eddie Kwok, executive director of real estate consultancy CBRE, said if the interbank rate continues to fall, the residential property market may see a recovery as it may cost less to repay mortgage as compared to rent. CONTEXT One-month Hong Kong dollar interbank rate HIBOR, which many of the mortgage plans are linked to, hit a fresh three-year low this week, making mortgage rates more affordable for home buyers.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hong Kong's home prices slip towards nine-year low as Trump tariffs spook buyers
Potential buyers seen during the launch of the Gold Coast Bay project in Tuen Mun in January 2025 (Photo: Elson Li/SCMP) Hong Kong's lived-in home prices fell for a fourth straight month in March, dragging a key market indicator to the lowest level in more than eight years, as the threat of a global tariff war stoked economic uncertainty and sapped investment appetite. Prices in the secondary market declined 0.49% in March, according to an index published by the Rating and Valuation Department on Monday, following a 0.56% setback in February. The index has retreated a cumulative 1.7% for the quarter to the level last seen in July 2016. Since the city's housing market peaked in September 2021, prices of lived-in homes have slumped by 28.6% as social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic sent the local economy into a recession. US President Donald Trump delivered his tariff blows on April 2, after threatening to do so since his inauguration in January. Looking to invest in overseas properties? Explore projects available for sale around the world 'Potential buyers took a wait-and-see approach,' said Eddie Kwok, executive director, valuation and advisory services, at CBRE Hong Kong. Home prices were likely to dip further in the coming months, with the US and China still locked in worsening trade tensions, he added. Meanwhile, rents in the city rose for the fourth straight month in March to the highest level since October, according to government data. Rents climbed 0.1% from a month earlier, and have risen by a cumulative 0.4% since the start of the year. Buyers were putting off home-buying plans in favour of renting, Kwok said, given the heightened trade tensions and doubts about future global interest-rate cuts. 'Going forward, we see residential rents picking up as the city welcomes more immigrants, especially during the summer period with non-local students preparing for the next academic year,' he added. See Also: Singapore Property for Sale & Rent, Latest Property News, Advanced Analytics Tools New Launch Condo & Landed Property in Singapore (COMPLETE list & updates) CapitaLand Development's Orchard Heights sees 98% booking rate at launch in Vietnam Prime Penang properties worth up to RM400 mil for sale Thakral's Australian associate GemLife to develop A$428 mil lifestyle resort in Queensland En Bloc Calculator, Find Out If Your Condo Will Be The Next en-bloc HDB Resale Flats Up For Sale, Affordable Units Available
South China Morning Post
30-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Negative equity cases in Hong Kong's real-estate market hit a new high
Negative equity cases in Hong Kong's real-estate market hit a new high , according to official data released on Wednesday, as elevated interest rates continued to weigh on property prices. Advertisement The number of homes whose value sank below what their owners were paying for their mortgages rose 6.1 per cent to 40,741 cases in the first quarter from the preceding period, data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) showed. The tally was the highest on record since the fourth quarter of 2003, according to mortgage brokers. The value of the negative equity cases rose by 5.5 per cent to around HK$205.9 billion (US$26.5 billion). It was also the second-highest value of negative equity cases since the HK$207.5 billion that was recorded in the third quarter of last year. 'Residential property prices fell 1.7 per cent during the period and the increase in negative equity cases was expected,' a HKMA spokesman said. 'The asset quality of the banking sector's residential mortgage loans remains good,' the spokesman said. 'By the end of March 2025, the overall mortgage loan delinquency rate was only 0.13 per cent and the delinquency rate of negative asset cases was only 0.17 per cent, maintaining a low level. This reflects that the vast majority of mortgage loan borrowers can repay on time and the risks of bank mortgage businesses are controllable.' Advertisement Hong Kong's lived-in home prices declined 0.49 per cent in March, according to an index published by the Rating and Valuation Department on Monday, following a 0.56 per cent decline in February. The index had retreated by 1.7 per cent as of the end of the first quarter to a level last seen in July 2016. The falling home prices were attributed to caution among homebuyers amid a trade war between the US and China and uncertainty about the path forward for global interest rates.
