Property market trends will be clearer by September

Hongkong Land’s Centricity Flexflexible office office space, reported 90% occupancy of its 25,000-square feet workspace.

In a statement, Hongkong Land said the Centricity Flex was launched in 2021 and has been attracting financial and professional services tenants including Discover Financial Services, Toscafund and Argyll Scott.

Centricity Flex is a collection of spaces and services located “in the heart of Central to enhance and ease the working life of Hongkong Land tenants.” 

US Consumer sentiment tracked by the University of Michigan, JUMPED 13% in July notching its second consecutive month of improvement. The index also reached its highest level since September 2021.

The university’s index tracks consumers’ expectations in three areas: personal finances, business conditions and buying conditions.

At the same time, the S&P 500 index has risen over 18% this year, most recently buoyed by cooler-than-expected inflation readings and strong second-quarter earnings reports from both big and regional banks. The broad-based index this week touched its highest level so far this year.

The commercial property market is not as exuberant as it used to be, and transaction numbers and prices are no longer staying high due to various challenges. However, there is no lack of short-term speculation in the market.

A street-level shop on Electric Road in North Point was sold for HK$18.8 million at an average price of HK$37,600 per square foot.

The vendor is investor So Siu-yung, who has overseen a 57-percent appreciation in price of the property in just six months.

The shop is being occupied by Luck Store at HK$40,000 per month, an expected return of 2.3 percent.

The government recorded a deficit of $71.9b in the first two months of the current financial year.

The government said it recorded a deficit mainly because some major types of revenue, including salaries and profits taxes, are mostly received towards the end of a financial year.

From April to May, the government also posted an expenditure of $124.1b and revenue of $52.2b.

The Hong Kong Housing Authority will open the application for subsidised flats under the Sale of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Flats 2023 and the White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) 2023 for two weeks from 31 July unit 14 August.

Under the HOS, a total of 9,154 flats are for sale in six new developments namely Kai Yuet Court in Kai Tak, On Ying Court, On Lai Court and On Wah Court in Kwun Tong, Siu Tsui Court in Tuen Mun and Long Tin Court in Yuen Long, the government said in a statement.

More than half of the people in Hong Kong believe they will still need to work even after retirement, research from Manulife Investment Management revealed.

According to the research, Hongkongers’ reasons for working after retirement vary per generation, but the most common reason is not having enough money to truly retire.

Amongst all generations, Gen Zs have the highest likelihood to work after retirement (67%), followed by Gen X (59%), Millennials (52%), and Baby Boomers (48%).

Sales of previously owned homes in the United States fell to a five-month low in June on limited inventory and helped to push selling prices near a record high.

Contract closings declined 3.3 percent to a 4.16 million annualized pace, roughly in line with economists' forecasts, data from the National Association of Realtors showed.

Compared with a year earlier, sales were down more than 17 percent.

A lack of inventory in the resale market remains a key constraint. The number of homes for sale held at 1.08 million, the lowest June inventory on record.

Hong Kong remains one of the top places in Asia for expatriates in terms of pay and benefits, data from ECA International showed.

The city rose three places to fifth rank in ECA International’s MyExpatriate Market Pay Survey despite recording a 2% drop in the value of its ex-pat package.

According to the survey, the total value of a typical ex-pat package in Hong Kong as of 2022 is US$278,020.