Hong Kong’s Real Estate Developers Association has reportedly urged the government to further ease property market curbs in next month’s policy address, including raising the price ceiling for HK$100 flat-rate stamp duty to HK$6 million.
In an interview, REDA chairman Stewart Leung Chi-kin said the proposal of raising the exemption threshold for first-time homebuyers from HK$4 million to HK$6 million, while maintaining the current maximum 4.25 percent tax rate aims to ease affordability as construction costs remain high despite falling land prices.
Leung predicted the adjustment could lift property prices by 4-5 percent by year-end.
He acknowledged potential short-term tax revenue dip but argued increased transactions would offset losses long-term.
The proposal was part of a 6-7 page recommendation submitted to the government, he revealed.
According to Sing Tao Daily, the sister publication of the Standard, the proposals also ask for doubling the cap on investment migrants’ home purchases counted toward their investment quota to HK$20 million.
Under last year’s policy address, the government refined the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme to allow investment migrants to include homes worth HK$50 million or more in their investment quota, capped at HK$10 million. The sector has said the limit was too low to draw interest, the report said.
REDA’s new proposal would allow buyers of homes priced at HK$30 million, HK$40 million or HK$50 million to count up to HK$20 million toward their quota.
Lawmaker Louis Loong Hon-biu, representing the real estate and construction sector, said relaxing investment migrant rules would give buyers more flexibility and inject new momentum into the housing market. Expanding the HK$100 duty threshold to HK$6 million would boost transactions and help stabilize prices, he added.
Wheelock Properties managing director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu said lowering the entry bar for investment migrants would enhance Hong Kong’s appeal to high-net-worth individuals.
STAFF REPORTER
