Property sales down 15.6% in March

Total consideration for sales and purchase agreements fell to $50.5b.

The number of sale and purchase agreeements registered with the Land Registry fell 15.6% YoY and 14% MoM in March, according to a government press release.

The total consideration for sale and purchase agreements issued in March was $50.5b, which represents a 19.3% MoM and 18% YoY decline.

Of the sale and purchase agreements, 4,263 were for residential units for a total consideration of $38.8b. 

This comes amidst general concerns that Hong Kong’s heated housing market may be softening leading to slashed mortgage loans in February. 

Loan growth is expected to slow down from 16.1% to 14% in 2018 as the exponential growth of housing prices are starting to lose steam after coming in at 16% in February versus a record high of 21.6% in June and April 2017, according to BMI Research.

Also read: Mortgage loans fall 14.7% to $32.5b in February

“Softening housing demand is likely to weigh on residential mortgage lending, which is starting to top out. According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), lending for purchasing residential properties came in at 7.8% y-o-y in January from a high of 8.4% y-o-y in September 2017,” the report added.