Agency closing branches hurts the shop market

A total of 86% of Hong Kong consumers say they trust “Big Tech” to fulfil banking services as much as or more than banks, a survey found. 

The Capco Bank of the Future Survey also found that 56% said they trust “Big Tech” more. 

“Hong Kong’s banks need a forward-thinking and compelling strategy around an array of digital channels and deliverables, including apps, highly personalized products, AI-driven advisory and even emerging metaverses,” Paul Sommerin, Partner and APAC Head of Digital & Technology, said.

To introduce an elevated shopping experience,Cathay opened its "online to offline to offline" retail space at Cityplaza shopping mall.

Located at the second floor, Cathay's retail space will offer branded merchandise from special edition co-branded Cathay x Start From Zero upcycled gallery container to Christmas-themed products.

What makes the shop interesting is it offers a new way of retail by using the online app, choosing alternative modes of payments and delivery, and earn promos for their next trip.

Hong Kong’s residential market was sluggish in October due to continued increases in interest rates, a weakening local economy, and unstable stock market, according to Knight Frank.

In a report, Knight Frank said residential sales in October were down 18.8% month-on-month (MoM), with primary sales declining by 53.2% MoM to 672 homes, citing data from the Land Registry.

“Potential buyers were hesitant to enter the property market, leading to poor performance in both transaction volume and prices,” the report read.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po is still open to including a new round of consumption vouchers in the coming year's budget proposal.

At a briefing to the Legislative Council Panel on Financial Affairs this morning, Chan pointed out that Hong Kong's financial situation will face an unexpected deficit of HK$100 billion due to the unfavourable economic environment and the limitation of public resources.

When asked by lawmakers whether he will fulfil public expectations regarding consumption vouchers in the upcoming financial budgets while there is a significant decrease in the government's income, Chan said he would monitor the situation and make sure to hear all the aspects' opinions.

He further states that the release of consumption vouchers did make a positive difference to the economy, but due to the large amount of public funds involved, he would remain vigilant of market developments to decide whether to release a new round.

Chinese developers Sunac China (1918) and Agile Group Holdings (3383) saw their contracted sales slump by more than 70 percent last month.

Sunac China's contracted sales plunged by 78 percent to 8.04 billion yuan (HK$8.98 billion) last month compared to a year ago, with the contracted sales area dropping by the same figure to 605,000 square meters, with an average selling price of about 13,290 yuan per square meter.

As of end-November, the group had contracted sales of approximately 161.1 billion yuan with a contracted sales area of about 12.18 million sq m.

Meanwhile, Agile said aggregated presales in November tumbled by 70 percent year-on-year to 3.6 billion yuan, with the corresponding gross floor area dropping by the same figure to 295,000 sq m. Its average selling price was 12,219 yuan per sq m.

Hang Seng Bank (0011) is offering an interest rate of 5 percent for a six-month deposit of Hong Kong dollars to selected clients to attract cash, the highest among local lenders.

New deposit or renewal of a maturing fixed deposit over HK$10,000 can earn the offered interest rate before December 31, for customers who have received the bank's promotion materials, said the bank.

The latest offer surpassed Dah Sing Bank's 4.95 percent and became the highest rate offered in Hong Kong for a six-month time deposit of the local currency. For a fixed deposit of HK$100,000, an interest of HK$2,500 can be earned.

Singapore's economy could surpass Hong Kong's over the next three decades amid government support for local industries, a top Chinese economist has warned.

As a free economy, Hong Kong's per capita gross domestic product was 70 percent higher than Singapore's in the 1980s, but is now 30 percent lower, Justin Lin Yifu, a former World Bank economist and current director of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University told a think tank forum.

He attributed to this change to the support extended by Singapore's government to local industries.

Lin pointed out that Singapore's industrial structure was similar to Hong Kong's between the fifties and seventies, when Hong Kong was not only a financial center but also a large manufacturing hub.

The government has escalated its efforts to attract more talent from the Mainland and overseas.

Apart from streamlining the admission scheme for Mainland talents and professionals, the government also extended the immigration arrangements for non-local graduates to graduates from campuses of Hong Kong universities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Through the soon-to-be-established Talents Service Unit, the government will formulate new strategies to recruit talent from the Mainland and overseas.

On the other hand, the government’s Mainland and overseas economic and trade offices will set up dedicated teams to attract businesses and talent.

Hong Kong is no-longer the world’s most expensive location in the world thanks to weakening demand in its housing market, according to the latest cost of living study by ECA International.

Hong Kong has been named the second most expensive location in the world, with New York City claiming the top spot as rents in the US city soared.

“Like many places in the world, prices of day to day goods and services rose in Hong Kong at a rate well above those we have seen in recent years, and above the average rate of growth elsewhere in the Asia region,” said Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia at ECA International.

“However, demand for rental accommodation has weakened on account of Hong Kong’s ongoing sub-par economic performance, causing rents to fall and contributing to Hong Kong’s fall of one place in our ranking,” Quane noted.