Holiday hits home as deals dry up

The 10 major housing estates recorded zero transactions over the four-day holiday in a first since 2005, when the property market was roiled by the SARS outbreak, as locals focused on celebrations amid a sluggish market and ahead of the SAR budget announcement.

Among those reporting the downturn was Centaline Property at its 10 blue-chip estates over the past weekend, compared to four cases the previous weekend and marking a new low after September 2018.

Louis Chan Wing-kit, Asia-Pacific vice chairman of residential at the agency, attributed the quiet secondary market to the Chinese New Year holiday, which saw buyers and sellers celebrating or traveling.

People are adopting a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the budget announcement on February 28, when "spicy home measures," introduced to cool the property market, are widely expected to be scrapped.

Midland Realty too reported zero deals, and that wasn't only at the 10 major housing estates it tracks but also the top 15 targets.

For Midland, it is the first time this has happened since record keeping began in 2010.

Hong Kong Property Services also saw zero deals over the past four days, with its chief executive, Dave Ma Tai-yeung, warning the market might continue to be sluggish with the advent of more new projects.

One instance involves Vanke Hong Kong, which plans to launch two projects offering over 2,000 units this year, 500 of which will be in Bondlane in Cheung Sha Wan.

The other is in Tai Po, with Vanke to time its launch according to market sentiment.

Henderson Land's (0012) sales (2) department will launch six new projects this year, said general manager Mark Hahn Ka-fai.

Among them are phase five of Square Mille in Tai Kok Tsui, which will be launched as soon as this quarter offer more than 200 flats, and a project in Kowloon City that is expected to put more than 300 units on the market in the middle of this year.

K Wah International (0173) also expects to launch two projects in the Mid-Levels and Tin Hau as early as the second half of the year, and that will see another 130 units.

Staff reporter and Bloomberg

The US consumer price index further climbed 3.1 percent yearly last month, missing estimates of 2.9 percent and supporting the Federal Reserve's move to keep interest rates high.

The core increase, at 0.4 percent, is the biggest since May. "Indexes that increased include shelter, motor vehicle insurance and medical care, while used cars and trucks and apparel were among those that decreased," said the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While energy costs saw yet another month of disinflation with lower pump prices, service costs and food stayed firm. Shelter made up over two thirds of the monthly increase for all items. It is worth noting that food costs also increased - that index rose 0.4 percent.

Bloomberg Intelligence Chief's US interest rate strategist Ira Jersey said: "The market is likely to price for not more than a 50 percent chance of a May cut with both headline and core CPI beating expectations."

With the latest inflation report, US Treasury two-year yields, more sensitive to imminent Fed moves, jumped 15 basis point to 4.63 percent. S&P 500 contracts dropped over 1 percent. The dollar rose.