Some Hong Kong experts predict property slump will ‘bottom out’ and cuts to stamp duties will boost market, but others say reduced charges not enough to increase demand
- Policy address cuts to stamp duties will reduce burden on local and non-local residents, Chief Executive John Lee says
- Source says ‘middle-of-the-road’ approach adopted to balance property speculation with ‘healthy development’ of housing market
Hong Kong’s sluggish property market will soon bottom out after the government cut stamp duties in the annual policy address, analysts have said.
A special stamp duty, equivalent to 10 per cent of the home price, will be waived for owners reselling their property after two years, reduced from the original three years.
The buyers’ stamp duty that applies to non-permanent residents, and another levy on additional properties, the new residential stamp duty, will also be halved to 7.5 per cent from 15 per cent.
Experts predicted on Wednesday the changes would stimulate demand and increase liquidity, but others took a less optimistic view.
They were speaking after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the relaxation of a variety of curbs on home sales for the first time in more than a decade in a bid to give the city’s flagging housing market a shot in the arm.
“The government has since 2010 introduced several rounds of demand-side management measures to curb short-term speculation activities and reduce external demand,” Lee said.
