According to the latest report released by Knight Frank, the primary residential market remained the most active among Hong Kong’s property sectors. Grade-A office sales remained sluggish, while the Grade-A office leasing market remained stable. In the retail sector, a number of retailers were still expanding in major shopping districts.
Residential
In November, the primary residential market remained the most active among Hong Kong’s property sectors. New projects launched at discounted prices absorbed a large portion of buying power in the market, shifting demand away from the secondary market.
Thomas Lam, Director and Head of Research & Consultancy, Greater China at Knight Frank, expects luxury home prices to drop 5-10% in 2014, while mass residential prices could fall 10-15%. The transaction volume of residential properties is expected to be 10-20% lower in 2014 compared with 2013.
Prime Office
With the impact of the government’s cooling measures lingering, Grade-A office sales remained sluggish, while the Grade-A office leasing market remained stable. In the Grade-A office market, Thomas expects rents and prices in core business areas will drop, but those in decentralised business areas will remain stable in 2014.
Retail
In the retail sector, some international retailers were seeking to enter or expand their footprint in Hong Kong with the support of stable local economy and further growth of inbound tourism. Thomas forecasts shop rents on prime streets to remain stable. As the government’s property-market cooling measures are anticipated to continue, prime-street prices are expected to drop slightly in 2014.
Hong Kong Monthly - December 2013