Weekly Roundup – Sale transactions jump 35%; Li Ka-shing back into the land marketHong Kong Property Sales Leap 35% As Investors Join Buying Frenzy — According to Midland Realty, Hong Kong’s property market increased by 35% in the first two weeks of September. Midland predicts that this increase would increase to almost 8,000 by the end of the month. — SCMP.com
Billionaire Li Ka-Shing Is Getting Back Into Hong Kong Housing Market — Li Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. has purchased its first plot of residential land in four years. The purchase of the New Territories site near Sha Tin above the expected price range is a good sign for Hong Kong’s property market. — Bloomberg.com
Sell H.K. Property Stocks On Trump Win Says $13 Billion Manager — A dutch pension fund manager with PGGM advises investors to dump Hong Kong real estate stocks if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November. A win for the real estate mogul could hurt world trade. — Bloomberg.com
Hong Kong Offices Are The World’s Most Costly To Rent — Hong Kong may remain the most expensive city in which to rent offices. The annual office rent in Hong Kong is $278.5 per square foot, which places the city ahead of New York’s $158 and Tokyo’s $149.5 per square foot. The HK Government hopes to ease the shortage of space driving the high prices in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui with the development of CBD2 in the Kai Tak and Kowloon Bay areas. — Asian Review
Hong Kong New Flat Sales Predicted To Top HK$150 Billion This Year — Midland Realty has reported a significant increase in home-buying activity. They predict that they could see the third-highest annual total since 1996. — SCMP.com
Hong Kong Regulator Fines HSBC For Regulatory Breaches — HSBC was fined HK$2.5 million dollars for regulatory breaches and internal control failings. HSBC has been cooperative with the Securities and Futures Commission and claims that no clients were impacted. — Business Times
