Buyers eyeing property in Hong Kong, one of the costliest real estate markets in the world, would be keeping an eye out for forecasted corrections in property prices as per reports. There could be a correction in property prices to the tune of 15% as per experts in the first half of next year. This could be due to several factors including an increase in interest rates and lower investments from buyers in mainland China according to studies. The Hong Kong market has witnessed prices increasing rapidly over the last decade and even more. However, there could be a correction in prices now in H1 2019 with lower mainland China money flowing into the realty sector and also the higher rates of interest.
Several equity and realty players are also eyeing this as an opportunity to snap up residential and commercial assets at lower prices in Hong Kong along with individual buyers. In fact, Gaw Capital purchased a whole line-up of shopping malls in Hong Kong in the recent past and there could be several other big-ticket deals on the anvil as per experts. Gaw Capital was the leader of the consortium that clinched this deal for a whopping $2.9 billion or HK$23 billion. These malls were purchased from the Link Real Estate Investment Trust. There is a marked cooling trend in Hong Kong and several real estate developers have already taken to offering several freebies and other incentives to buyers in order to sell apartments faster.
This comes before the expected vacancy taxation and other measures. Discount rates will soon be offered by several real estate firms to buyers. This could be good news for many families who would otherwise struggle to purchase property at previous price levels. Other experts have also predicted that property prices in the residential segment may come down by around 13% in 2019. However, if prices do come down to these levels, Hong Kong will become a buyer’s market and this may propel demand upwards once again according to some experts.
