New stamp duty's impact projected to be minimal

The residential market's still expensive.

Hong Kong’s residential property prices have remained among the world’s least affordable in 2016, and the recent introduction of the new stamp duty has put the price growth on hold.

According to a research note from Colliers International, while the full impacts are yet to be seen, it expects the residential market to go through minor adjustment for the whole year in 2017 following the cooling measures.

"Developers will build more small units with a price ranging from HKD3 million to HKD5 million and areas adjacent to major infrastructure improvement will see more interest from potential buyers,” Vincent Cheung, executive director of Asia valuation and advisory services forecasted.

Here's more from Colliers International:

Luxury residential rents in 2017 look set to be similar to 2016, with the lower end sector (HKD40K or below) going to be most active. Banking and financial services continues to slow down and most expatriates in this sector will remain conservative with their spending.

“Monthly rentals in the HKD40,000 to 80,000 range will remain flat. Luxury rentals of above HKD150,000 will continue to suffer as a lot of expats have now changed to local packages and companies are tightening housing budgets. With the opening of the MTR’s new South Island Line end of this year, expat families are more willing to consider the Ap Lei Chau and Wong Chuk Hang areas, and these will drive prices up,” added Vincent.