Central Plains Real Estate: In the first half of the year, Hong Kong property prices continued to rise, boosting buyers' confidence in entering the market and driving active transactions in second-hand village houses.

Yang Ming-yi, Senior Co-director of the Research Department at Centaline Property, stated that in the first seven months of 2026, there were 1,162 recorded transactions of second-hand village houses in the New Territories, with a total value of HK$4.611 billion, reaching 73.3% and 73.7% of the total expected for the whole of 2025, which is 1,585 transactions worth HK$6.255 billion. The atmosphere in Hong Kong's property market was significantly booming in the first half of the year, with continuous price increases. Coupled with falling interest rates and banks launching various mortgage incentives, this has enhanced buyers' confidence in entering the market, leading to active trading of second-hand village houses. Although transactions in the second half of the year are expected to slow down along with the overall market, it is estimated that the total for the year could reach about 1,800 transactions, an increase of more than 10% compared to the previous year, likely setting a new high in nearly five years since 2,321 transactions in 2021. Yang pointed out that in terms of value statistics, there were 208 transactions of second-hand high-end village houses valued at over HK$5 million in the first seven months of 2026, which accounted for 85.2% of the total for the previous year, the highest proportion among all price categories. This reflects that, amid rising property prices, buyers prefer to enter the market for higher-quality village houses. There were 475 transactions in the price range of HK$3 million to HK$4 million, reaching nearly 80% of the total for the previous year, or 79.0%. Transactions valued at HK$3 million or below and those between HK$4 million and HK$5 million recorded 278 and 201 transactions, respectively, representing only 65.9% and 63.2% of the previous year's totals, trailing behind the overall market by more than 70%. In the five major districts where traditional village houses in the New Territories are located (including Tai Po, Yuen Long, Sai Kung, Tuen Mun, and Sha Tin), there were a total of 954 transactions recorded in the first seven months of this year, accounting for 74.5% of the 1,280 transactions recorded for the entire previous year. Yuen Long had the most transactions, recording 385 registrations, followed by Tai Po with 217 and Sai Kung with 192, ranking third. Among the five districts, Sha Tin performed the best in the first seven months, with 68 transactions recorded, which accounted for 89.5% of the previous year's total. The proportions for Yuen Long, Tai Po, and Sai Kung were all around 75%, which is also better than the overall market, reaching 75.2%, 75.1%, and 75.0% of their previous year totals, respectively. Only Tuen Mun performed comparatively poorly, with 92 transactions, only reaching 62.6% of the previous year's total. In terms of average transaction amounts, the average value of each village house transaction in Tuen Mun in the first seven months this year was recorded at HK$3.79 million, an increase of 5.8% from the previous year's total, the largest increase among the five districts. Sai Kung followed, with an average of HK$4.56 million per transaction, up 5.4%. Sha Tin and Tai Po had average values of HK$4.82 million and HK$4.08 million per transaction, respectively, up 3.1% and 0.8%. However, Yuen Long saw a decline in the average transaction amount, recorded at HK$3.7 million, down 4.8%.