People's 'assets are disappearing': Midland Realty chairman sounds the alarm as he urges removal of all Hong Kong property cooling measures

Hong Kong should do away with property sector cooling measures altogether as declines in real estate values and the stock market are putting Hongkongers' assets at risk, said the chairman of Midland Realty.

Many unfavourable factors have emerged in the city's property market, including an increase in the number of homes with negative equity, a high inventory of new flats, fewer transactions and a slump in property prices, Freddie Wong Kin-yip, the Hong Kong-listed property agency's chairman, said on Friday.

"As property and stock prices are falling together, Hong Kong people's assets are disappearing," he said.

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"Now is the time to remove all kinds of property cooling measures to revitalise the market, and to assist the public in purchasing homes."

Wong's comments come amid speculation that Paul Chan Mo-po, Hong Kong's finance chief, could relax property market curbs further during his budget speech on February 28, after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, the city's leader, rolled back some curbs in his policy address last year.

Lee halved the homebuyers' stamp duty for non-permanent residents and for additional properties. The move brought down both these duties to 7.5 per cent from the previous 15 per cent.

Moreover, professionals arriving in the city under different talent recruitment schemes are only required to pay stamp duty on property purchases if they fail to become permanent residents.

Hong Kong's lived-in home prices fell for a second year in a row in 2023, to their lowest level in seven years, as the city's property market continued to be weighed down by high interest rates and a lumbering Chinese economy.

Prices fell about 1.4 per cent in December for an eighth consecutive monthly decline, pulling the official index to a level last seen in January 2017, according to data compiled by the Rating and Valuation Department.

In view of this slowdown in property transactions, Wong said Midland would minimise its investments to "protect its capital and life" and adapt to the current market. Midland has closed about 140 branches and lost about 1,700 staff members since last year, he said, adding that it will expand again when the market situation improves.

After falling at an accelerated pace at the end of last year, property prices - as well as transaction volumes - will stabilise after the Lunar New Year holiday, when Hongkongers who have travelled abroad return to the city, Wong said.

"The worst is over," he said, adding that with interest rates expected to be cut from the middle of this year, and support from the arrival of newcomers through the talent schemes, "it is expected that property prices will stabilise this year".

The icy market sentiment has also spilled over to foreclosed properties, which are offered at large discounts. For instance, a penthouse at Kennedy Park At Central in Mid-Levels was sold at a discount of 52 per cent compared to its purchase price 11 years ago.

Property transactions in Hong Kong descended to their lowest level in 33 years in 2023, as sentiment among potential homebuyers was hit by a deluge of poor economic news and high interest rates.

A total of 58,035 properties changed hands in the city last year, a 2.7 per cent drop compared with 2022, and the lowest figure since 1991, according to Land Registry data.

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