Hong Kong developers seen slowing home sales to control prices

[CityFarmer]

HK property counters are worse than Singapore ones... or it is coming...

Hong Kong developers seen slowing home sales to control prices

HONG KONG — Developers are expected to put the brakes on home sales for the rest of the year after government curbs to rein in prices sapped demand, according to BOCOM International Holdings and Centaline Property Agency.

“The pace of sales will remain slow unless there’s something encouraging developers to turn over assets faster,” said Mr Alfred Lau, a Hong Kong-based analyst at BOCOM. He added that they have “little incentive to sell at a time when the market’s down”.

The government needs to lower premiums charged either on farmland bought by developers with the aim of converting it to residential use, or on projects sold atop railway stations, to encourage developers to accelerate sales, he said.

Property transactions in the city plunged to a two-decade low in the second quarter in response to a doubling of stamp duties on buyers and sellers, and tightened regulations on marketing material of new apartments. Home prices have also dropped 2 per cent from March

http://www.todayonline.com/business/hong...rol-prices

[CityFarmer]

News update on HK property market...

Hong Kong home prices decline most since 2008: Centaline

HONG KONG – Hong Kong home prices fell the most in four-and-a-half years in the week ended July 7, on concerns that interest rates will begin to rise if the US Federal Reserve phases out its monetary easing program later this year, the Bloomberg news agency reported.

Prices fell 1.8 per cent during the week, the most since November 2008, according to an index compiled by Centaline Property Agency, the city’s biggest closely held realtor by agent numbers.

http://www.todayonline.com/business/hong...-centaline