Interest in house buying dips to 13% in Q3: survey

The finding reflects a wait-and-see attitude amongst house buyers.

Interest in house purchasing among Hong Kong locals dipped to 13% in the third quarter, which is a 1% decline from the previous quarter, and a 17% drop from the same period last year.

This represents approximately 317,000 people who conducted property hunting in August or September this year, according to Citi’s Residential Property Ownership Survey.

Amongst those surveyed, 55% believe 2021 was not an excellent time to purchase a house, and only 4% said it was a good time to buy.

Citi said the lower optimism for the quarter reflects a “wait-and-see attitude” amongst house buyers.

Interest in house purchasing was highest amongst individuals aged 21 to 24, and the average age of first-time buyers is 31.

Those who expressed interest in buying homes said the average price of a property that can meet their accommodation needs at $5.8m, 115% higher than the estimate 10 years ago at $2.7m.

Respondents expect property prices to rise for the whole year of 2021 (42%) and the coming year (38%).

“We recommend that young people interested in buying a property start reviewing their asset allocation as soon as possible, accumulating their wealth and gradually becoming empowered to realise their aspirations in home buying,” Josephine Lee, head of Retail Bank at Citi Hong Kong, said.