Hong Kong Property: It is expected that the total property registration volume in Hong Kong for August will reach 5,700 transactions, a decrease of approximately 15% compared to the previous month.

Wang Pindi, director of the Research Department at Hong Kong Property, stated that according to data compiled by the Hong Kong Property Research Department from the Land Registry, a total of 4,410 property registrations (including first-hand private residential properties, second-hand residential properties, first-hand public housing, commercial shops, pure car parking spaces, and other non-residential properties) have been recorded this month to date (as of the 24th), a decrease of approximately 18.6% compared to the 5,416 registrations during the same period last month. If the current registration pace continues, it is expected that the total for August will reach about 5,700 registrations, a month-on-month decline of approximately 15%. Given the time required from signing a purchase agreement to registration at the Land Registry, the registrations in August will primarily reflect the market conditions of July. In fact, the market conditions have improved recently. In the first-hand market, last week, a new project in Kowloon launched its first round of sales at attractive prices, which stimulated a significant release of purchasing power. The response was enthusiastic, and the units sold out on the same day, which is expected to boost the first-hand transaction volume this month. According to data from the Hong Kong Property Research Department and market information from the "First-hand Residential Property Sales Information Network," over 760 first-hand transactions were recorded in July (as of the 24th), nearing last month's total of 810. It is believed that this months final transaction count may rise back above 1,000, showing a month-on-month increase. As for the second-hand market, buoyed by the strong sales of new projects enhancing market sentiment, figures from front-line branches of the company indicate that last week (from August 17 to August 23), there were 38 second-hand transactions in the top 20 major estates in Hong Kong, an increase of 12 transactions, or approximately 46.2%, compared to the previous week (from August 10 to August 16), which had 26 transactions. This marks a second consecutive week of increases, hitting an 11-week high. If the positive sentiment in the property market continues, it is expected that transactions for both first-hand and second-hand residential properties will become more active, which will then be reflected in later property registration volumes, thereby driving an overall increase in property registrations.