Financial Secretary Paul Chan revealed a HK$138 billion budget surplus
Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, last year’s bumper crop of land sales helped fuel a budget surplus of HK$138 billion ($17.6 billion) — and Hong Kong’s wealthy land owners will be reassured that this too will work in their favour. Also in the headlines, the city government plans to offer four commercial sites for public tender this coming financial year, and Hysan’s new prime building in Causeway Bay is rolling out the carpet for its first office tenants. All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.
Property Boom Fuels Massive HK$138B Budget Surplus
Hong Kong just unveiled a hefty HK$138 billion ($17.6 billion) budget surplus. It can thank the booming property market for much of that.
In the fiscal year ending March, 27 percent of Hong Kong’s revenue came largely from the sale of land, compared with 17.7 percent in the period ended 2015, as the price of property has been steadily bid up by local developers and their mainland counterparts. Read more>>
New Budget Waives Rates for Estimated 3.25M Properties
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po rolled out the city’s budget at the Legislative Council on Wednesday morning. Chan waives rates (an indirect tax levied on property owners) for four quarters of 2018/19, subject to a ceiling of HK$2,500 per quarter for each rateable property.
This proposal is estimated to benefit 3.25 million properties and reduce government revenue by HK$17.8 billion. Last year, Chan waived rates for four quarters of 2017/18, but the ceiling was much lower, at HK$1,000 per quarter for each rateable property. Read more>>
Government Plans to Put 4 Commercial Sites on Sale
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the government will put four sites for commercial or hotel use on sale in the coming financial year. The plots will provide a combined gross floor area of 530,000 square feet (49,238 square metres).
In addition, the government would release approximately 560,000 square metres of commercial/office floor area by repositioning existing government facilities in Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay. Read more>>
Secondary Home Price Growth Slows in January
Hong Kong’s secondary home price growth eased and rents declined in January, as close to 32,000 new flats are expected to be available for pre-sale this year.
The home price index increased 1.27 percent to 357.5, according to data released by the Rating and Valuation Department on Wednesday. This compared with a rise of 1.52 percent in December. Read more>>
Hysan’s Lee Garden Three Welcomes First Office Tenants
The first office tenants have moved into the Lee Garden Three commercial building that includes a retail podium, a rooftop garden, a sky garden with a 100-meter running track, and a range of dining hotspots, Hysan Development said.
A number of other multinational enterprises are putting the final touches to their interior works and will soon be operating in the office portion of the building. Spaces, a well-known community-based co-working brand, has chosen Lee Gardens as its flagship base in Hong Kong, Hysan Development said. Read more>>
Sung Hung Kai Posts 37% First-Half Profit Rise
Hong Kong’s most valuable developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, reported a 37 percent rise in first-half underlying profit yesterday as most of its development projects for the year were completed in the first six months.
The company, which owns a portfolio of office space and flats in Hong Kong and mainland China, said underlying profit came to HK$19.97 billion ($2.5 billion) in the six months ended December 31, compared with HK$14.6 billion ($1.9 billion) a year earlier. Read more>>
Tune in again later for more Hong Kong news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
Leave a Reply