July First-Hand Home Deals Slump 62% in Hong Kong
AM730 · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong's first-hand private residential market cooled sharply in July after an extended period of strong activity, with registrations falling back below 1,000 deals for the first time in 16 months . Ricacorp Properties said the retreat followed a long surge in new-home sales, while developers began relaunching projects in late July and could support a recovery in August registrations .
Key Points
- Land Registry data compiled by Ricacorp showed 731 first-hand private home sale registrations in July, worth HK$15.71 billion, down from 1,923 deals and HK$28.781 billion in June .
- The monthly drop of 62% in volume and 45% in value ended a 16-month streak of more than 1,000 registrations, which Ricacorp described as the second-strongest such run on record .
- By district, all three major regions declined, with the New Territories hit hardest at 166 registrations and HK$2.121 billion, down 76% and 67% month on month respectively .
- Kowloon still led all regions with 412 registrations worth HK$6.932 billion, despite declines of 58% in volume and 50% in value amid the absence of a major headline project .
- Hong Kong Island recorded 153 registrations worth HK$6.656 billion, down 37% in volume and 20% in value, while transactions accounted for 20.9% of the citywide total .
Why It Matters
The July pullback suggests developers' launch schedules remain a key driver of monthly first-hand market performance, especially when no large new project dominates registrations . Ricacorp expects deals completed in late July and fresh launches in early August to lift August registrations by about 30% to around 970, with a return above 1,000 more likely in September .