Most Hongkongers think it’s a ‘terrible’ time to buy property: survey

Many locals expect home price rises for the rest of the year

A majority of Hong Kong denizens feel that now is an inauspicious time to purchase a home, according to the latest quarterly Citibank Residential Property Ownership Survey.

The poll, conducted last month by The University of Hong Kong Social Sciences Research Centre on behalf of Citibank, found 71 percent of respondents saying it is a “bad or terrible time to purchase” a house in the high-density city.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents had expressed the same sentiment in the first quarter of the year.

The survey of some 500 people also found that two percent of respondents felt that it is a “good or excellent time” to buy a house, down from four percent in Q1 2019.

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Asked if they think Hong Kong home prices would rise over the next 12 months, 36 percent of respondents in the Q2 2019 survey replied in the affirmative. Twenty-eight percent of respondents believe prices will fall over the same period, while 36 percent think they will hold steady.

Although 47 percent of respondents in the Q2 survey said they are “very or rather uninterested” in buying property now, some 25 percent are “very interested” in buying property, up from the 19 percent who expressed the same in Q2 2018.

“The results show that many local citizens are expecting that the home prices will continue to rise, they still have certain interests in buying a home,” said Josephine Lee, head of retail bank at Citibank Hong Kong.  “We recommend that potential home buyers should first measure their home affordability, comprehensively assess their financial situation and burden, and choose a suitable mortgage plan.”