Hong Kong scrapped all decade-old property curbs
Under heavy pressure from Hong Kong developers and the city’s elite, finance chief, Paul Chan has scrapped all property curbs. Political heavyweights and economists have previously said that the removal of property cooling measures will boost the lacklustre property market without causing home prices to soar.
All property cooling measures on the Hong Kong property market have been removed with immediate effect. This includes a Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) that targets non-permanent residents and a New Residential Stamp Duty (NRSD) for second-time purchasers.
The financial secretary has pledged to take a more targeted approach to spending this year and ditch consumption vouchers for residents as the city’s deficit has ballooned to HK$101.6 billion, potentially leaving Hong Kong’s fiscal reserves at their lowest in a decade.
“The boost will not be substantial,” said Kathy Lee, head of research in HongKong at Colliers International Group.
Property market curbs lifted
Hong Kong has abolished all buy-side property tightening measures for residential properties with immediate effect.
Stocks of Hong Kong developers rose after Financial Secretary Paul Chan scrapped property cooling measures in a bid to bolster the sector, which has been weighed down by high borrowing costs and weak economic sentiment.
In his budget speech on Wednesday, Chan announced that Hong Kong will withdraw all buy-side tightening measures for residential properties and waive stamp duties payable on the transfer of REIT units with immediate effect.
The finance chief says scrapping all cooling measures has taken into account the external and internal economic situation, and he considers there is “now room to make further adjustment to the relevant measures and other supervisory policies pertinent to property lending where appropriate, under the premise of maintaining the stability of the banking system”.
The decision follows the government’s move last October to halve buyers’ stamp duty for non-permanent residents and for additional properties. The move brought both down to 7.5 per cent from the previous 15 per cent.
(Source: EdgeProp, CNBC)
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