Hong Kong home sales fall 70 per cent in February amid slowdown

Residential buildings stand in the Mei Foo area of Hong Kong, China, on Feb 3, 2016. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Hong Kong residential home sales plunged 70 per cent in February from a year earlier to a 25-year low, as falling prices and economic uncertainty deterred buyers.

In February, 1,807 homes were sold in Hong Kong, compared with 6,027 a year earlier, according to government statistics.

Home sales fell from 2,045 in January, the data show.

"The newspapers keep on saying the market is going down and buyers think they can get a cheaper house half-a-year later or one year later, so are waiting," said Mr Thomas Fok, a property agent at Centaline Property Agency in Hong Kong's upscale Mid-levels West district where he has not made a single sale this year.

Property prices have declined 10 per cent from their September highs amid uncertainty over the economy at home and in China, possible interest-rate increases and plans by the government to boost housing supply in the next five years.

Senior Hong Kong government officials have ruled out relaxing property curbs, which include extra stamp duties and caps on mortgage levels.

The slowdown is prompting some Hong Kong developers to slash targets.

Sun Hung Kai Properties cut its full-year contracted sales target in Hong Kong by 18 per cent to HK$27 billion (S$4.8 billion).

New World Development reported that contracted sales plunged 79 per cent in the first half of its fiscal year to HK$2.8 billion, achieving just 28 per cent of its full-year sales target.

Home prices in the city surged 370 per cent from their 2003 trough through the September peak, spurred by low mortgage rates, tight supply of new units and buying from mainland Chinese.

This year, Bocom International Holdings property analyst Alfred Lau has said prices could fall 30 per cent amid a slowdown.

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