The cooling measures have an immediate effect! Midland: Daily sales of new properties in Hong Kong have increased nearly 10 times.

The Hong Kong "Budget" withdrawal of the cooling measures and suspension of stress tests has led to a surge in purchasing power, immediately unlocking the Hong Kong property market. Just a few days after the withdrawal of the cooling measures, both first-hand and second-hand transactions have soared. Midland Realty stated that the immediate effect of the withdrawal of cooling measures in the Hong Kong "Budget" was evident, with pent-up purchasing power erupting and many buyers rushing into the market. Coupled with the appearance of long-term investors in some housing estates, the Hong Kong property market has regained momentum. From the 5th day after the Budget (February 28th to March 3rd), the average daily transactions for new developments in Hong Kong have increased nearly tenfold, while second-hand transactions in 35 housing estates have increased by approximately 1.3 times per week, reaching a new high in a year! Specifically, in terms of new developments, a total of approximately 584 transactions were recorded in the five days following the Budget, averaging about 117 transactions per day, compared to an average of about 11 transactions per day from January 1st to February 27th before the Budget, representing nearly a tenfold increase. At the beginning of the year, Hong Kong developers slowed down their pace of new launches, with market transactions mainly focusing on unsold units. Before the Budget, unsold units accounted for about 84% of first-hand sales. However, after the Budget, several brand new projects are ready to be launched, and it is anticipated that the proportion of new projects will increase. In fact, with the hot sales of the brand new project in Cheung Sha Wan on Sunday, the proportion of new projects has increased from approximately 16% before the Budget to about 24% in the five days after the Budget. Second-hand transactions in the Hong Kong property market have also seen a sharp increase. According to data from Midland Bank branches, a total of 116 transactions were recorded in the 35 major housing estates across Hong Kong in the past week (February 26th to March 3rd), an increase of about 1.3 times compared to the previous week (February 19th to February 25th), reaching a new high in about a year (53 weeks). However, the average number of transactions per week in the 35 housing estates so far in 2024 is only about 53 transactions, similar to the average of 54 transactions for the entire year of 2023. This is lower by about 43% and 17% compared to the averages of about 93 transactions and about 64 transactions in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Benefiting from the withdrawal of cooling measures in the property market, transaction volume is expected to continue improving, leading to an average weekly transaction volume surpassing last year.