〈China Daily, July 15, 2017〉Property market analysts said that the great property rush has been driven by the public’s lack of confidence in government’s efforts to increase the supply of homes. They seem to have even less confidence in the government’s low-cost housing program. Despite warnings about the bursting of the property bubble, developers have tried to keep the market on the boil with easy credit in contravention of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s strict guidelines to banks. The bursting of the property bubble would no doubt make housing more affordable. But it would also wipe out a large part of the household wealth of many families who bought homes in recent years. What is more, the fallout from the property price crash could pose a threat to the banking system and further undermine public confidence in the establishment.

Fortunately for Hong Kong, the public’s anxiety seems to have subsided since new Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor restored some confidence by indicating she will encourage greater public participation in addressing the housing issue which has become a major source of social discontent. Demand for new homes has eased while prices are showing signs of leveling off.Property analysts at banks and other financial institutions are predicting a decline of average housing prices as early as this month. That could be the beginning of the long process of deflating the property bubble, allowing prices to adjust gradually in a normal downward cycle unfettered by excessive anxieties from buyers.

Hong Kong needs more than the fixed currency regime and solid bank balance sheets to assure its financial stability. The government has made a good start in reducing the threat posed by a property bubble. It must also address the capital market’s shortcomings to preserve the reputation of Hong Kong as an international financial center.

〈Asian Post, July 15, 2017〉The new leadership of the Hong Kong government should consider restarting land reclamation to increase land supply to build new homes as a means to resolve the city's housing problem in the long run, according to a government think tank and a property agent.

Stephen Wong, deputy executive director and head of public policy of think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, said Hong Kong's medium- and long-term housing supply was lagging behind its target, and urged the government restart large-scale development to solve the problem. Wong recommended the authorities convert the use of land for container terminals in Kwai Chung to build housing.

"Do we need container terminals in the middle of the city?" he said.Do we need container terminals in the middle of the city?Stephen Wong, Our Hong Kong Foundation Changing land use of the container terminals is part of a proposal tabled by the think tank in its recently released report to solve Hong Kong's housing problems. The report proposed that the government restart large-scale reclamation to create land for different development projects in the city.

"Only 24 per cent of total land (size of 110,000 hectares) in Hong Kong are developed land, with the rest being greenery, including country parks, farm land and land for other uses," said Wong in a luncheon meeting yesterday.

This compared to 75 per cent of developed land for Singapore's total 71,000 hectares, he said. Excluding country parks that account for 40 per cent of Hong Kong's total area, Wong called on the government to better use the city's land area for building homes.

He also warned that only 25 per cent of households can afford to buy a home in the city where the real property price index has surged 266 per cent since 2004, against real wage and GDP growth of 109 per cent and 156 per cent respectively.

〈Asian Post, July 14, 2017〉Tiny flats in one of the city's newest developments are set to fetch rents well above market rates, raising concerns that low income groups left off the property ladder have not really benefited from the trend of building smaller apartments.

Starting at 128 square feet, these "nano flats" are being built at the T Plus development in Tuen Mun, and are set to be leased for HK$4,000 per month, or HK$31 per square foot.

The rates are about 19 per cent to 29 per cent higher than the area average of HK$24 to HK$26 per square foot, according to leasing transaction data by Centaline Property Agency.

"In a sky-high property market like Hong Kong, tenants or buyers with limited budgets only go for smaller lump sum amounts rather than unit size. There is always a market for tiny flats," Cheung Choi-kuen, an executive director at Many Wells Property Agent, which focuses on Tuen Mun, said.

Rents for homes smaller than 430 sq ft saw a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent in May, while the rise was a more modest 3 per cent for flats from 1,076 sq ft to 1,721 sq ft, according to data from the Rating and Valuation Department.

Veteran property investor Tang Shing-bor, known for his extensive holdings of retail shops, bought T Plus for HK$1.2 billion on Wednesday from Asia Allied Infrastructure Holdings, formerly known as Chun Wo Property Development. Tang Yiu-sing, the son of Tang Shing-bor, said the project would be retained for leasing rather than for sale.

Flats at T Plus, the largest of which are 250 sq ft, are due to be completed in September next year. The smallest flats cover less space than the complex's 134 sq ft parking spaces.

〈The Standard, July 13, 2017〉Hengqin, situated on an island in Zhuhai, has been famous as a "back garden" for its neighbors in Macau to purchase properties there. And in recent years, Hengqin - the only designated special economic district in close proximity to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge - has attracted more and more Hong Kong investors.

At present, Hongkongers account for nearly 15 percent of all property purchasers in Hengqin, according to data from Centaline Property Agency.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association said some of its core members are planning to form a delegation to Hengqin this month or next to investigate the property market there.

Second vice chairman Eric Ho Sai- kit said he had earlier bought two flats in Jiangmen, a prefecture-level city northwest of Zhuhai. As housing prices have now doubled there, he plans to start investing in Hengqin.

"Construction of the Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and being designated a free trade zone have caused housing prices in Hengqin to soar, from HK$8,000 per square meter up to HK$20,000 psm," Ho said, adding he will be looking to acquire one or two flats as large as 93 square meters (1,001 square feet).

"Some mainland developers told me to purchase apartments rather than independent houses, as a house has no decorations and is less popular in the market," he said, noting that decorating a house would cost HK$1.5 million to HK$1.6 million, while decorating a flat would only cost about HK$600,000 to HK$700,000.

A representative from the China Hong Kong and Macau Boundary Crossing Bus Association said the group has taken people - including politicians, businessmen, investors and media workers - to Hengqin to check out properties in the past.

Many bought houses after on-site visits, as they prefer larger living spaces, the representative said. To attract buyers, developers are dangling many types of special discounts, the representative added. He pointed out that property prices in Hengqin have increased more than 20 times in the past decade, rising from an average of HK$1,600 to more than HK$10,000 psm. And he expects the upward trend to continue once the tri- city mega bridge opens to traffic.

〈Macau Daily, July 12, 2017〉The residential property market rebounded amid a period of robust primary sale prices, leading to strong price growth in some of the residential projects, according to JLL, a global real estate services and investment management company, in its Macau mid-year property review for 2017.

Mark Wong, a senior manager at JLL said, “the overall economy in Macau performed quite well in the first half of the year, underpinned by the active investment sentiment with the launch of several new residential projects.

“The government’s implementation of cooling measures to curb the overheated property market, which lowered the loan-to-value ratio for borrowers, who are not first-time homebuyers, coupled with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and contraction of balance sheet, is expected to reduce the total residential transaction volume in the short term.”“However, with the economic fundamentals in Macau remaining optimistic, the completion of a large-scale gaming facility within the year and the positive effects that will be brought about by the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, we expect Macau’s property market to remain healthy and stable in the second semester,” said Wong.

The total residential sales transaction volume in Macau continued to grow during the first half of the year. According to the MSAR government’s statistics, a total of 4,690 residential sales transactions were registered in the first five months of 2017, representing a significant growth of 49.1 percent year-on-year.

Investment in the overall residential market was active in the first six months of 2017, due to the positive response to the launch of presale projects, according to JLL.

The capital values for high-end and mass-to-medium residential properties rose by 8.8 percent and 6 percent respectively between January and the end of June, compared to the end of 2016, while yields decreased to 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

The JLL report also said that the rental values for high-end residential properties grew by 3 percent and remained stable for mass-to-medium residential properties, compared to the end of 2016.