Cooling Measures To Stay, More Sites To Be Sold

The Financial Secretary Paul Chan has announced that measures to help cool the SAR's property prices will remain in place, saying current flat prices are still out of reach for many people in Hong Kong.

Presenting his latest budget on Wednesday, the secretary said the government has no plans to withdraw the cooling measures it had earlier implemented, due to expected headwinds in the global economy.

"Residential property transactions and prices fell in the latter half of last year, but current flat prices are still out of line with people’s affordability. The Government has no intention to withdraw any demand-side management measures at this stage," he said.

"The global economic slowdown, coupled with political and economic uncertainties, may affect investment sentiment and intensify the volatility in the global financial markets," Chan said.

He added that he'll ensure adequate resources are provided to help increase housing supply in Hong Kong, adding that a total of 15 residential sites will be put up for sale in the coming year.

Among them, seven are new sites which are going to provide some 8,800 residential units. And together with railway property development projects, developments from the Urban Renewal Authority and the private sector, he said around 15,500 homes should be made available in the coming year.

While this will be down from the 21,000 private flats completed last year, Chan said the supply of new private flats should remain high in the next three to four years.

He said the government’s preliminary estimate is that the private sector will complete about 18,800 flats per year between 2019 and 2023 – an increase of around 20 percent on the previous five-year period.

The secretary has also set aside HK$2 billion for non-governmental organisations for initiatives to build transitional units for those queuing for a public housing flat. He said the Transport and Housing Bureau has set up a task force looking into the matter, and it will seek arrangements and funding approval later.