Hong Kong Property Market Set For Reduced Supply....

According to industry insiders, new supply of housing flats will be fairly light for the next couple of years.

Supply this year is expected to be about 20,000 units, down 23 percent from 26,000 units in 2004, and well below the average annual take-up of 24,000 to 27,000 homes over the past decade, industry watchers said.

The quarterly statistics, released by the Housing Department, showed that newly completed flats in the private sector fell about 31 percent to 4,600 units in the third quarter from 6,700 in the same period of last year.

The government said its report is a snapshot rather than a forecast.

Pacific Century Premium Developments executive director Wendy Gan estimates that the annual supply of new homes will plunge to about 13,000 in the coming two years from about 26,000-30,000 between 2002 and 2004.

I just don't believe these numbers. If you take the bus to the airport, there are dozens and dozens of new residential buildings being constructed within sight of the highway. In addition, the government has tried to create this environment by reducing land sales to in order to inflate prices, but this is an artificial shortage.

A real free market would build as many flats as are demanded and price rises should increase the supply not reduce it as we are seeing by these statistics.

It is really a sad state of affairs when the government has to be complicite with the uber-wealthy greedy developers to strip hard earned cash from the working citizens of this state through such sleazy methods. Shame on all of you.