American League: It is expected that first-hand transactions in the Hong Kong property market of over 100 million Hong Kong dollars in the second half of the year will reach a record high for half a year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that as the improvement of Hong Kong stocks triggered wealth effects, the market investment climate heated up, and the financial environment was further relaxed, leading to a significant increase in residential transactions of over 100 million Hong Kong dollars in the second half of the year, especially for first-hand luxury homes. According to the Associated Press, since the second half of the year (as of December 8), 61 first-hand transactions of over HK$100 million have been recorded, involving a total amount of HK$12.94 billion, which is a sharp increase of more than 1 times and more than 1.1 times, respectively, from 30 transactions and about HK$6.09 billion in the first half of the year. Of these, the number of transactions was only 3 fewer than the record high of 64 transactions in the first half of 2021. The Federal Reserve expects first-hand transactions of over 100 million Hong Kong dollars in the second half of the year to challenge 70 transactions and the level of HK$15 billion, which is expected to also set a record high for half a year after the first-hand sales regulations.

Ma Taiyang, CEO (Housing) of the Associated Press Group, pointed out that in the second half of this year, there was a marked acceleration of over 100 million Hong Kong dollar luxury property transactions, reflecting the continued inflow of capital into the Hong Kong property market. The direct result was that it boosted the market atmosphere and caused Hong Kong property prices to stop falling and rise in the second half of the year. Ma Taiyang believes that in line with the beginning of the US interest rate reduction cycle, the low interest rate environment is expected to continue next year, which is expected to further unleash the wealth effect. I believe that with the continuous improvement of Hong Kong's local economy, the supply of rare super luxury homes will be sought after by the rich. It is expected that the residential trading performance of over 100 million Hong Kong dollars will continue to improve next year, adding upward momentum to the Hong Kong property market. Coupled with the original long-term and short-term investment and demand for personal use, it is expected to have a positive effect on the overall property market. It is believed that property prices are expected to rise 8% to 10% throughout 2026.

The HK$100,000+ second-hand market is also active. According to data from the Integrated Land Registry of the Midland Property Research Center, up to now (as of December 8), 33 second-hand housing registrations worth over HK$100 million have been recorded, surpassing 27 cases in the first half of last year, which is about 22.2% higher, and a four-year high since the second half of '21. The total amount of capital involved in the same period was about HK$6.54 billion, up about 16.3% from about HK$5.62 billion in the first half of the year. It also saw a 2-year high.

In fact, the positive trend in Hong Kong stocks this year and US interest rate cuts have led to capital inflows. In addition, mainland buyers who have always loved Hong Kong's super luxury homes are actively investing in high-quality properties in Hong Kong, making super luxury homes the focus of financial demand. According to an analysis of data from the Integrated Land Registry of the United States Property Research Center, based on the names of known buyers, mainland buyers (identified by the English pinyin of the buyer's name) accounted for about 57.1% of the total number of second-hand residential registrations of over HK$100 million in the first 10 months of this year. That is, for every 100 individual buyers registered over HK$100 million, about 57 cases involved mainland buyers. Ma Taiyang said that the ratio of mainland buyers buying super luxury homes is far higher than the overall residential registration volume during the same period, where mainland buyers accounted for about 22% of individual buyers. It can be seen that super luxury homes are very popular with mainland buyers.