China

Hong Kong Home Prices Slump 15% in First Fall For 13 Years

Hong Kong was one of the world's most expensive cities to live in but prices have fallen in recent years and many expats and citizens have left since the city's new security law was imposed (Reuters file photo).

Home prices in Hong Kong dropped last year for the first time since 2008, driven down by Covid, a weak economy and rising mortgage costs.

Prices in the Asian financial hub, one of the least affordable places in the world, fell 15.6% in 2022 in the first annual drop since 2008, official data showed on Friday.

Also on AF: China Labels US a ‘Bully, Rule Breaker’ at WTO Meeting

December saw the seventh consecutive month of decline, the data showed, with prices down 2.0% from a month earlier to the lowest since April 2017. That compared with a revised 3.2% drop in November and a 2.6% fall in October.

For 2023, real estate consultancies expect home prices to remain soft though stabilise in the second half after an expected peak in interest rates.

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

China Property Stocks Soar on Hope of More Home Price Cuts

China Home Prices See Biggest Drop in Seven Years in October

Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.