〈The Standard, Oct 19, 2024〉A luxury house at 28 Peak Road, owned by a local family, reportedly sold for over HK$1 billion at around HK$112,000 per square foot, marking the largest high-end property transaction since the rate cut.
The property spans 16,700 square feet, featuring a large garden, pool and a villa with a usable area of about 8,910 square feet.
It includes a basement with a garage and helper's quarters, a ground floor with living and dining areas, a kitchen, a guest suite and the first floor has six en-suite bedrooms.
〈The Standard, Oct 19, 2024〉Prospective home buyers expect their mortgages to eventually be less burdensome, even with the city trimming its interest rates at a moderate pace and in the face of the one-month Hong Kong interbank offered rate's recently going back up to above 4 percent.
In general, Hong Kong banks offer two main types of mortgages: the "H" and "P" plans.
The "H" plan is based on the Hibor and usually calculated using a floated one-month Hibor that has designated basis points tagged on that reflect the risk of lending to a non-institutional borrower, such as, say, 1.3 percentage points.
〈Hong Kong Business, Oct 18, 2024〉Chief Executive John Lee said that the new policy of regulating subdivided units (SDUs) strikes a balance between meeting the genuine demand for these flats and ensuring a healthy market.
Lee proposed in his policy address to set minimum standards to eradicate inadequate SDUs through legislation.
Elaborating on the policy initiatives at a press conference, Lee highlighted that the system he plans to introduce through legislation does not intend to make what is illegal legal.
“Enforcement will be taken accordingly, and of course, we will step up enforcement in concert with the new policy of subdivided flats, which will be introduced in residential buildings,” he said.
〈Asian Post, Oct 17,2024〉Vacancy pressure may compel office landlords to adopt a favourable attitude towards semi-retail occupiers on office floors, according to CBRE.
In line with this, CBRE observed that landlords have been offering attractive leasing packages such as rent-free periods and CapEx subsidies to secure existing and new tenants.
In Q3, office demand improved due to banks and wealth management firms, whilst the retail and wholesale sector has increased its share of leasing activity in recent months.
Additionally, alternative sectors that enhance tenant experience are gaining popularity in office buildings.
〈RTHK News, Oct 16, 2024〉Hong Kong's unemployment rate remained steady at three percent in the three-month period ending in September, which is the same as the June-to-August period.
Official figures from the Census and Statistics Department on Friday showed the underemployment rate also remained unchanged at 1.2 percent.
In a statement, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun, said the unemployment rates of various sectors showed diverse movements during the period, although the changes were not significant.
"The overall labour market should remain tight in the near term alongside the sustained economic growth, though the employment situation may vary across sectors depending on their business performances,” he said.
