Hong Kong's property market is in a vicious circle: house prices hit new highs with policy controls

I saw the government move. The government said it would further introduce appropriate measures when necessary. Our reporter Huang "reading tips" Hong Kong's real estate market is experiencing a new round of "fever", the Hong Kong government several times this year "fever", but the effectiveness of the policy was quickly digested by the market.　　How to avoid the bubble formed by the property market, repeating the mistakes of the past, has become a challenge to the government. August 31, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, took out a mansion in the price of $16500 (Hong Kong dollars, the same below), and created the new king of Kowloon.　　Why the Hong Kong property market only sees the government making a move and not seeing a fever in the property market has become a topic of discussion. "August 13 policy, 17th Digest," said Miss Lin, a Hong Kong property company, told the latest regulation policy issued by the HKSAR Government against the property market, even though the volume of real estate in Hong Kong fell by about half, property stocks also showed a sharp decline, but only a week, The housing market is still booming.　　"The whole of the mid-levels of Happy Valley, in August as at 20th, there are 80 single transactions, it can be said that business booming, by the end of the month more than 100 should be no problem," Ms. Lin said.　　As one of the most active real estate markets in the world, Hong Kong's property industry has experienced this huge ups and downs, not only attracted the eyes of the world's industries, but also the mood of ordinary citizens in the peak and trough between the swing. Under policy regulation, house prices have hit new highs since last year, Hong Kong's housing prices have been rising to new highs, especially in October last year, the mid-levels of the West-level mansion "Tin Wui" 68 floor a room, priced up to more than 700,000 yuan per square metre, become the world's most expensive residential units. In September of that year, a total of 14,437 contracts for all types of property transactions were registered with the Hong Kong Land Registry, up by 95.9%.　　The news that a series of real estate is hot has not only raised the media's eyebrows, but also the people of Hong Kong, accustomed to high prices, began to voice their grievances. In the face of aggressive property prices, April 21, the SAR government launched a "9 strokes 12-style" control policy, and strive to increase the transparency of property transactions.　　After that, the volume of residential transactions in Hong Kong fell sharply. However, less than one months after the "New Deal" came into being, Hong Kong's property prices began to rise markedly.　　The average property price in June is 15% higher than the peak of 2008, and the price of large units has surpassed the 1997-year peak. In the face of another round of property market shocks, Hong Kong's financial Secretary, Mr John Tsang, said: "The property market is now in an unusual situation which combines very low interest rates, large liquidity and low supply."　　"Therefore, August 13, the SAR government has jointly launched a number of regulatory policies, including increasing the supply of land and housing, prohibiting speculation on the first-hand building, lowering the mortgage ceiling for residential buildings (that is, raising the down payment ratio) and so on, in an attempt to increase the cost of speculators." The policy was announced in Friday and the volume of property transactions in Hong Kong fell by half in the weekend, with the Hong Kong stock Exchange's property stocks falling at a total of August 16. However, on 17th, the Hong Kong government auctioned two pieces of Kowloon CityDistrict land, was long real group to buy 7.61 billion yuan, respectively, higher than the original price of 43.5% and 98.3%, floor price per square meter near 100,000 yuan, on-site auction atmosphere and the price is far better than market expectations.　　The result was a surprise to the market and once worried that the owners of second-hand buildings in Hung Hom and Ho Tin Estate, which had a new deal to bring down property prices, immediately raised their housing charges by 3% to 10%. Senior members of the Hong Kong professional consultancy firm have admitted that the results of the sale reflect that the government's new property control measures have failed to change the imbalance between supply and demand in residential buildings, and developers have great confidence in the future of the property market. This is confirmed by the fact. According to the real estate company, some remote areas of Hong Kong Island such as Ap Lei Chau, South Bay, 330,000 yuan per square meter is already very cheap, slightly better some of the lot to 170,000 to 180,000 yuan a square metre. "In the last one months, two new developments have been sold in disposed, and no new flats will be available for balloting," he said. "Idle funds push up the market, the mainland" spender "into a home purchase of the Forces nouvelles" buy a house is like a brand handbag ", this is Miss Lin's mainland customers to buy Hong Kong housing intuitive evaluation. Since it takes more than 6 million yuan to invest in Hong Kong, it is better to buy a house directly. "The staff of the company listened to the customers who spoke Putonghua and rushed to receive them because they tended to pay off the loan." Instead, English-speaking customers, mostly to rent, respond to a few. "Hong Kong's soaring housing prices and the mainland's" spender "cannot but be an important factor." According to the real estate agency, 20%-30% of Hong Kong's housing transactions are now attributable to mainland customers.　　"Mainlanders have created the myth of Hong Kong's property market," Ms. Lin said with emotion. Apart from the factors of mainland clients, the combination of the various elements of Hong Kong's local economic development has also contributed to the housing prices. First, hot money is surging. As early as last October, the chief Secretary for Monetary services, Norman, warned that, from 2008 to 2009, a total of about $567.5 billion was flowing into Hong Kong, and the banking system also reflected that, after the second quarter of 2009, inflows had been converted from risk aversion to investment, and hundreds of millions of of "hot money" would have a　　Leung, HSBC's Asia Pacific business strategy and Economic advisor, said that the scale of capital inflows had not been seen before, with at least 20% of hot money flowing to the property market, and that Hong Kong's property market rally would become white-hot in 2010, posing a bubble. In addition, Hong Kong's economic recovery has been strong since 2009, with the year-on-year increase in imports and exports of goods in Hong Kong rising by more than 30% per cent in March this year, with both the export and unemployment rates returning to pre-crisis levels. Hong Kong jumped from the Nineth place in 2009 to the fourth place in the global foreign direct investment rankings.　　With the momentum of economic recovery, the employment situation in Hong Kong is good, the market is abundant, the bank interest is low, and a lot of funds are looking for a suitable outlet. The government is braced for an increase in the risk of the property market. The volume of housing in the mid-levels August hasMore than 100 orders, the performance in the upper and middle level. At present, the number of new real estate market is not much, for the tail goods. The policy has had a certain effect on the investors ' short fry behavior. There has been a slight decline in the volume of property in Hong Kong, but property prices have not declined.　　Buyers and sellers in the market are in a "saw-saw" state, are watching the follow-up. As far as the SAR government is concerned, policies such as increasing land supply and increasing the cost of speculators can only play a certain role in regulation. Ms. Lin, who handles the sale of real estate, is not optimistic about the government's property control policy: "The current policy does not have any effect on the real rich, and the people who have the demand for home ownership." Now the hot is the sale of luxury homes, or packaging, decoration of the real estate, the market is naturally keen to create more high-priced properties, leading the market price of the higher prices. "On the hot status of the property market, the SAR government has introduced regulatory measures in four directions, that is, to increase housing supply, curb property speculation, ensure market transparency and prevent excessive expansion of mortgage lending." However, the Financial Secretary also has a more sober understanding of the current property market situation, and a spokesman for the department said that while property markets were still dominated by individual home ownership, the proportion of people's contribution to home ownership and income had risen to 41.5% in the second quarter as property prices increased.　　Although this figure does not exceed the average figure of 53% between 2008 and 1989, the risk of a property bubble will only increase as the mortgage interest rate may remain low for a long time. What further worries the SAR government is that once the liquidity is removed, the rate of return to a more normal level will create an unprecedented pressure on the property market and will have a certain impact on financial and economic stability. "We should take some precautionary measures before the bubble is formed, while trying to strike a balance and maintain a clear and stable policy so as not to lead to a dramatic boom in the property market," he said. "The SAR government will continue to monitor the market situation closely and to introduce appropriate measures as necessary," a spokesman for the Financial Secretary said. ”