Hong Kong’s residential property transactions jumped more than 50 percent in June from a year earlier, with buyer interest boosted by falling interbank rates and developers' competitive pricing.
A total of 5,955 residential deals were registered during the month, up 54.4 percent from a year ago and 16.7 percent from May, according to data released on Thursday by the Land Registry. The value of those transactions surged 77 percent year-on-year to HK$61.1 billion.
Including all property types, the number of sale-and-purchase agreements reached 7,271 – a 12.9 percent increase from May and 38.6 percent more than a year earlier. The overall consideration climbed 61.6 percent year-on-year to HK$66.4 billion. The 12-month moving average rose to 5,812 – up 3 percent from May and 19.6 percent from a year earlier.
Cushman and Wakefield attributed the rise in residential deals to lower Hong Kong dollar interbank offered rates and developers’ efforts to price new launches close to market value.
The real estate broker maintained its earlier forecast, expecting overall transaction volume to stay near last year’s level and annual home price movements to remain within a plus-or-minus 3-percent range, citing persistent global uncertainties and the unclear outlook for sustained low interbank rates.
A potential US rate cut later this year could help keep the city's interbank rates low, offering support to the local housing market, the firm added.
STAFF REPORTER
