More than half of middle-income households in Hong Kong believe house prices are poised to rally now that all of the restrictions in the market have been scrapped, according to a survey by Citibank.

The appetite for commercial property in Asia-Pacific is likely to remain subdued until interest-rate cuts arrive later this year or early next year, according to a CBRE survey. Investors in Hong Kong were notable net sellers last quarter.

Mainland Chinese buyers account for anywhere from 30 per cent up to 80 per cent of the sales in some recent launches, agents say, raising hopes that their buying power will bring price stability to the market.

Sales of the units, which ranged from 340 sq ft to 783 sq ft at HK$18,597 to HK$28,350 per square foot, were suspended after a red rain signal on Saturday.

Hong Kong’s property transactions came close to a three-year high in April, with 9,880 units changing hands according to official data, as the removal of cooling measures continued to boost demand.

Tax commissioner says revenue is likely to rise by 12 per cent in 2024-25, after city scrapped property market curbs this year.

Hong Kong kept its key interest rate unchanged for a sixth consecutive time in lockstep with the Federal Reserve’s overnight decision, with sticky US inflation forcing investors to delay rate cut bets.

The appetite of mainland Chinese firms for premium space was not enough to stem a steady increase in the vacancy rate as more office premises came online and overall demand shrank.

City must encourage retrofitting or replacement of old ‘carbon-hog’ buildings and accelerate adoption of construction materials with lower ‘embodied’ carbon, says World Green Building Council founder David Gottfried.

The number of Hongkongers with negative-equity loans stood at 32,073 in the first quarter of the year, tripling from the previous quarter and the most since some 40,000 cases were recorded in the first quarter of 2004.

Hongkongers are less willing to buy homes amid price increases at new launches by developers, analysts said after Great Eagle Holdings announced a new higher price list for another 150 units at its Onmantin project on Monday.

Louis Vuitton is returning to Times Square, three years after the French luxury brand shut its store, a sign of a brighter outlook for Hong Kong’s luxury retail market.

Buoyed by the brisk sales of flats following the removal of Hong Kong’s property cooling measures, the city’s developers have this year launched 4,800 new units as of last week, a seven-year high.

Rising demand for data centres is unlikely to provide relief for Hong Kong landlords and asset owners looking to convert their empty office spaces into industrial property, US asset manager PGIM Real Estate says.

Post report from 1947 states that concrete foundation is widely believed to house a sword, with its blade pointing towards Tokyo.

All 260 flats on offer at Onmantin were already on Saturday after the project received 7,500 orders from prospective buyers.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho says projects represent 96 per cent of government’s target to complete 30,000 light public flats by 2026-27 financial year.

Adriel Chan, 41, succeeds his father Ronnie Chan as chairman of Hang Lung Group, one of Hong Kong’s biggest commercial landlords.

Prices of second-hand homes have increased for the first time in almost a year as the recent removal of cooling measures gave a much-needed boost to the beleaguered property market.

The first 18 office units have been priced from HK$7.2 million to HK$22.7 million, or around HK$12,000 to HK$14,000 per square foot, NWD said in a statement on Thursday.

Hong Kong’s economic recovery is slowly filling up retail spaces, pushing vacancy rates to a three-year low. The rebound, however, is bypassing the northwestern part of the city in Yuen Long and Sheung Shui.

Chen Hongtian, who had snapped up mansions and offices in Hong Kong and London, faces demands from banks to repay more than US$200 million of overdue loans following the market slump.

Jewellery chain Chow Tai Fook promises more technology-led shopping because ‘that’s what younger customers want’.

‘It’s overall a pretty outstanding location, and pretty outstanding locations will be successful,’ Christian Ulbrich says.

Some analysts have expressed concern that buyers may hesitate to purchase homes should the rate cut not materialise this year.