Buyers from mainland China are a force to be reckoned with in Hong Kong Kong’s property market.
Mainlanders spent a record HK$70.5 billion (US$9.03 billion) in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 42 per cent, on new and lived-in homes, according to Centaline Property Agency, one of the largest real estate consultancies in the city.
They accounted for 6,117 deals, also a record and 70 per cent higher from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the property agency. Buyers from the mainland accounted for one in five residential transactions in the city from January to June.
In 1997, when homes in the city sold for an average of HK$7,808 (US$1,000) per square foot, mainlanders only accounted for 1 to 2 per cent of residential transactions.
“Mainland buyers choose to buy property in Hong Kong for many reasons, including immigration and settlement, investment and for education purposes,” Louis Chan Wing-kit, CEO of the residential division of Centaline, said on Tuesday.
The surge in property demand from mainlanders came after the government scrapped the decade-old property market curbs in February, giving the market an immediate boost. The government withdrew the Buyer’s Stamp Duty that targeted non-permanent residents and a New Residential Stamp Duty for second-time purchasers. Homeowners were also given a reprieve from paying Special Stamp Duty if they sold within two years.
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“Since the lifting of the property curbs in February, the cost of buying a flat in the city for mainland Chinese has decreased by 30 per cent, hence the surge that we have seen in the first half,” Chan said.
The draw of relaxed curbs is likely to lose its lustre, he added, predicting that the ratio of mainland buyers will decrease to 10 per cent in the third and fourth quarters.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority complemented the government’s efforts with higher loan amounts for eligible buyers. Homes valued at less than HK$30 million are now eligible for 70 per cent mortgage financing, compared with the previous cap of 60 per cent for flats valued between HK$15 million and HK$30 million.
The incentives are also aimed at global talent, which Hong Kong is keen to attract through programmes such as the Top Talent Pass Scheme rolled out in December 2022. The scheme aims to lure individuals with annual incomes of at least HK$2.5 million and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities who have worked for three of the past five years.
In the first half, mainlanders bought a third of the new flats sold in the city. They bought more than 3,000 of the 8,974 units sold from January to June, according to Centaline. They made up for 40 per cent of the HK$109.7 billion deal value in the same period.
This shows mainland buyers are an “indispensable source of income for developers”, Chan said.
Stewart Leung Chi-kin, the chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, as well as Wheelock Properties, said the benefits of Hong Kong’s talent programmes and the government’s initiatives to boost the economy are likely to trickle down to the property market.
“I believe Hong Kong’s property market has the ability to rebound,” Leung said, predicting that the city’s economy is likely to recover by the end of the year.
“Likewise, property prices can be expected to increase at least 5 per cent,” he added
Additional reporting by Salina Li
