Average size of new flats shrunk to 600sq ft in 2016

This is compared to 1,000 sq ft in 2013.

Hong Kong government has announced the latest figures on private housing supply. Cliff Tse, Regional Director of Valuation Department at JLL, said, “The sharp fall in completed flats and commencement of construction works in the first quarter of 2017 should reflect the cyclical fluctuations only, which might be catching up in the coming quarters."

Tse added that the government expects there will be 96,000 units available in the next three to four years, which has 2,000 more than the expected figure in the 4Q 2016. It represents the average new housing supply will reach an estimated 24,000 per year, close to the average housing supply of 25,000 flats a year over the 10-year horizon before 1997. The upcoming supply will get back to a healthy level.

Although the new housing supply is increasing, JLL’s research shows the average size of new flats is decreasing. According the Building Authority’s figures, the average size per new supplied unit was more than 1,000 sq ft in 2013, but dwindle to about 600 sq ft in 2016.  "It reflects developers are planning to build more small flats to justify the affordable lump sums. To tackle the problem, the government might introduce administrative measures to monitor the new supply to have reasonable size and re-examine the current measures to improve the turnover of flats in the secondary market, which should be the most effective housing supply in the market," he said.