Hong Kong home prices rose for first time in four years in 2025
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Housing sentiment in Hong Kong has been picking up, supported by falling mortgage rates and demand from Chinese buyers.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Hong Kong – Hong Kong home prices recorded their first annual increase in four years, the clearest sign yet that the city’s residential market is starting to recover from a prolonged downturn.
The price index for private domestic homes rose 3.25 per cent in 2025 from a year earlier, the first annual gain since 2021, according to figures released by the Rating and Valuation Department on Jan 28. The gauge also climbed 0.2 per cent in December from a month earlier.
Housing sentiment in the Asian financial hub has been picking up, supported by falling mortgage rates and demand from Chinese buyers. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority cut its base rate three times in 2025, in line with moves from the US Federal Reserve.
Investors from the mainland spent a record HK$138 billion (S$22.3 billion) purchasing residential property in Hong Kong in 2025, making up about one-fifth of transactions, according to data from Midland Realty. In the luxury sector, developers have pulled off some of the largest sales in years in recent months, boosted by a rebound in the stock market.
The housing sector achieved a soft landing in the second half of 2025, with unsold inventories declining, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. Home prices are likely to grow 5 per cent in 2026, driven by record rents and lower rates, Bloomberg Intelligence estimates.
“Hong Kong’s housing market is probably getting to the end of the tunnel,” said Ms Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. “We still see (an) inflow of people and expect more rate cuts this year.” BLOOMBERG
