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.

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.

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

Property agents have raised sales forecasts for the year amid project launches at discounted prices, but say a lack of a rate cut could pare those estimates.

Philippine chain Hotel101 Global targets 1 million rooms and a presence in more than 100 countries after signing an agreement to merge with a Hong Kong company, which aims to list on Nasdaq in New York.

‘Foreign investor appetite could not be stronger for Japan at the moment,’ JLL analyst says.

Hong Kong property sales rose to a 10-month high in March, surpassing 5,000 deals a month after the government lifted all property cooling measures, data from the government shows.

Hong Kong has been shut out of the rankings in a survey of innovation and concentration of talent in which cities in the Asia-Pacific region took five of the top 10 spots.

Trends are likely to cap any rental gains in the retail property segment, where recovery will proceed in a gradual manner, analysts say.

The lived-in home-price index fell 1.7 per cent in February versus 1.2 per cent in January, according to the Rating and Valuation Department. Prices have fallen for 10 months in a row, losing 13.7 per cent in value.

Embattled property developer Country Garden said it is injecting funds into an unfinished skyscraper project by introducing a new partner, an announcement which sent its shares soaring.

Wang On Properties will be launching the most new projects since it was listed eight years ago, CEO Nick Tang Ho-hong says. Policy support and potential rate cuts later this year will lift home and rental prices.

‘We are trying to overcome it, so that people will come back to Hong Kong and experience all of the good things it has to offer’, CEO Clement Kwok says. ‘That will take some time.’

The developer of Belgravia Place says it will launch 7,100 new homes this year, 5 per cent fewer than the 7,655 units offered in 2023. The firm reported flat underlying profit of US$1.2 billion last year.

A loan for China Vanke, one of China’s largest developers, could provide temporary relief to a sector rocked by defaults and by a court order for the liquidation of China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer.

The commercial property leasing market across most Asia-Pacific markets is improving, except in Hong Kong and mainland China where sentiment is particularly downbeat, according to CBRE.

Hong Kong’s current property market downturn is cyclical and not structural, with home prices set to decline by as much as 10 per cent this year as elevated interest rates keep demand in check, S&P says

Over the past two years, Japanese businesses have been the most active among foreign firms in terms of leasing retail spaces in Hong Kong, according to data compiled by JLL.

Simon Siu, chairman of Estate Agents Authority, says decision to scrap extra stamp duties last month was ‘shot in the arm’ for ailing property market.

‘China faces considerable domestic challenges, from a sluggish property market to weak consumer sentiment, Wharf says. After a poor result in 2023, more time is needed to revive the property markets, it says.

Hong Kong’s hotels are looking at sporting, arts, consumer and entertainment events in the year ahead to drive tourist flows into the city

Goldin Financial Global Centre, the former headquarters of Chinese tycoon’s Goldin Financial Holdings in Kowloon Bay, has been renamed The Bay Hub.

Hong Kong’s largest developer by market capitalisation is being tipped by analysts to emerge as the ‘prime beneficiary’ of the city’s removal of all property cooling measures.

Insiders hint ‘only some measures might be lifted’ while analysts say they are sceptical that home prices will soar even if all cooling measures are removed.

Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices fell for the ninth straight month in January, intensifying calls to roll back curbs on the sector even as the government is seeking to rein in a ballooning deficit estimated to exceed HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion).

New home prices in China’s top cities fell 0.37 per cent in January versus 0.45 per cent in December. A sharp cut to the loan prime rate indicates further loosening could be on the way, Goldman Sachs says.

Sino Land and Hysan Development, two major Hong Kong property developers, expect ‘uncertainties’ to continue to affect the city’s real estate market, they said in their latest financial reports on Thursday.