〈The Standard, May 20, 2023〉The lands department is set to launch the first residential site for tender in this fiscal year tomorrow. In Kennedy Town, it has a market valuation estimated to be between HK$2.2 billion and HK$2.7 billion.

The site at the junction of Sai Ning Street and Victoria Road can be developed into buildings with a total floor area of about 243,000 square feet.

It will be the first of six residential sites for tender this year. The response to this tender can serve as an indicator for the overall demand and sales of land in the area.

The site is a bus terminal at the moment. It is near China Merchants Godown B, where some flats are expected to have sea views in the future.

〈The Standard, May 19, 2023〉More tenants turned to buying their own homes from renting as property prices rebounded following an economic recovery and a peaking interest rate.

Both the transaction numbers and prices of second-hand properties bounced back after the travel restrictions between China and Hong Kong were removed, prompting potential buyers who were optimistic about the market's prospects to get on the property ladder before the prices spike again, said Louis Chan Wing-kit, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman of Centaline Property Agency's residential division.

These deals made up around 10 percent of the total transactions recently, Chan said.

Many tenants now preferred to pay mortgage repayment over rent, which is on the rise, noted Lawrance Wong Dun-king, president of Many Wells Property Agent. For starter homes, the monthly mortgage repayment was roughly at the same level as rent.

〈Asian Post, May 18, 2023〉Real estate expert, JLL, has called on the Hong Kong government to encourage more developers to build more senior living places in the city.

The call came in light of the expected increase of the city's older population by 46.3% in the next decade.

In a report, JLL warned that the city will face a shortage of over 60,000 suitable elderly places by 2032

"The number of residential care places for the elderly is scheduled to increase by 0.24% only. At the same time, our elderly population has never been healthier or wealthier, and the way our parents and grandparents want to live is very different from the way their parents and grandparents lived," JLL said.

〈The Standard, May 17, 2023〉The vacancy rate of high street shops in Central Hong Kong declined to 10.5% in Q1, data from JLL showed.

In a report, the real estate expert attributed the decline to the city’s reopening of borders with mainland China and its economic recovery.

“Retailers speeded up to make real estate decisions in the first quarter after mainland China announced to reopen the borders. There are about six street-level shops on Queen’s Road Central available for lease in January, but currently, only two shops remain available for lease on this street,” Oliver Tong, head of Retail at JLL in Hong Kong, said.

〈BBC, May 16, 2023〉The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts the UK economy will shrink this year while every other major economy will grow.

The Bank of England also forecasts a recession in the UK in 2023 - albeit one that is shorter and less severe than previously forecast.

Perhaps it's not surprising the outlook is bleak given the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and soaring costs of both energy and food.

But why is the UK seemingly faring worse than other rich countries such as the US, Germany and France?