Hong Kong property: market remains stuck in doldrums as city’s border reopening is not quite the magic bullet hoped for, JLL report says

Hong Kong’s beleaguered property market remains stubbornly stuck in the doldrums, as the much-anticipated border reopening with mainland China has yet to boost home transactions, which bolds ill for owners looking to unload their assets.

The number of homes that changed hands in Hong Kong was 3,051 in January, according to the latest data compiled by JLL, almost a fifth less than the monthly average of 3,755 transactions last year.

Transactions involving buyers from outside Hong Kong were particularly tepid. Just 34 such transactions – signified by payment of Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) – were recorded in January, below last year’s average of 53 and a far cry from pre-pandemic levels.

“The average monthly transaction volume involving BSD was 294 in 2018 and 178 in 2019, so it’s still significantly below the pre-Covid level,” said Nelson Wong, executive director of research at JLL in Hong Kong.

In 2019, the year before the coronavirus broke out, mainland Chinese buyers accounted for 8.4 per cent of overall home sales in Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Midland Realty.

02:23

Travellers praise restriction-free movement as last closed Hong Kong-mainland China borders reopen

Travellers praise restriction-free movement as last closed Hong Kong-mainland China borders reopen

But annual transactions involving buyers who were non-permanent residents or non-domiciled companies slumped by about three quarters under the strict travelling restrictions introduced during the pandemic, according to Inland Revenue Department statistics cited by Midland Realty.

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