City Weighs Tax Deduction for Renters and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, the city’s financial chief said the government is mulling tax sweeteners to make housing a bit more affordable for renters. Also in the headlines, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will be moving its operations from the IFC to Exchange Square to trim rental costs, and developer Sino Land saw a huge profit jump from its sale of The Palazzo, a mixed-use development in Chengdu last September. All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.

Government Mulls Tax Deduction for Renters

The Hong Kong government is actively considering the introduction of a new tax deduction for renters, a measure it was unable to include in this year’s budget because it would require a computer system upgrade, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Thursday.

“We studied the policy, but it was difficult for us to realise it this year,” Chan said on a phone-in programme jointly organised by three major radio broadcasters on Thursday morning to answer questions from the public on the 2018-19 budget. Read more>>

HKEX To Flee IFC for Exchange Square in Cost-Cutting Move

Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) will cease to lease office space at IFC in order to save costs. The stock exchange will move its operations to Exchange Square in Central, where it is also a tenant, by year-end.

The monthly rent in Exchange Square is said to be below HK$100 ($12.8) for HKEX, while the exchange’s office in IFC costs over HK$100. HKEX’s chairman Charles Li said moving all operations to Exchange Square could enhance communication within the institution. Read more>>

Sino Land Posts 219% Profit Jump

Sino Land said it will pay out a special dividend after posting a 218.6 percent jump in underlying profit for the July to December period. Its earnings were helped by a one-off gain from the disposal of a development in Chengdu, which also offset a sharp decline in property sales.

The underlying profit was within the range forecast – HK$8.38 billion ($1.1 billion) and HK$9.61 billion ($1.3 billion) – by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Read more>>

Hysan Says Retail Has Not Fully Recovered

Officials at Hysan Development, one of the largest landlords in Hong Kong’s famous shopping district of Causeway Bay, say the city’s retail sector has still not fully recovered.

“We see good direction, but we still need to wait. We still have some concerns that retail sales have not recovered full-scale,” said Ricky Lui, its chief operating officer. Roger Hao, its chief financial officer added that estimated tenant sales for 2017 saw a single-digit percentage increase, compared with 2016. Read more>>

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