〈Hong Kong Business, Dec 28, 2024〉The Housing Authority has drawn the priority order for applications under the Sale of Home Ownership Scheme(HOS).
The authority’s Subsidised Housing Committee Chairman, Cleresa Wong, officiated at the ballot drawing ceremony.
The results are available on the HOS webpage.
Around 106,000 applications for HOS flats were received, meaning they were oversubscribed by about 14 times.
Moreover, about 50,000 of the applications came from families, and around 56,000 were from one-person households.
〈Asian Post, Dec 27, 2024〉High-end retail brands in HK Arab taking advantage of currently affordable rents to expand or relocate to prime locations, driving up demand for high streets in core districts and Grade A shopping malls, according to Colliers.
Despite challenges, high-street rents showed resilience in the second quarter (Q2 2024), with a 1.0% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase and a 7.4%YoY rise as tourism recovers, Colliers’ Quarterly Market Report: Q2 2024 revealed.
For the year, Colliers expects rent to trend not more than +10%.
Causeway Bay outperformed, with rents increasing by 1.8% quarter-on-quarter. Retailers are continuing to secure prime locations at attractive rents, supporting high-street rents, which are likely to outperform non-core retail in the coming quarters.
〈Hong Kong Business, Dec 26, 2024〉In its 2025 Market Forecast, the firm recommended reducing supplementary requirements, such as provisions for Government, Institution, or Community facilities and extensive roadworks, which currently deter participation.
Exempting additional conditions, like ESG mandates or requiring portions of gross floor area to be returned to the government, could further encourage developer interest, JLL noted.
JLL also suggested breaking large land parcels into smaller plots to lower the initial investment required, making land acquisition more accessible.
〈RTHK News, Dec 25, 2024〉Hong Kong's home prices have risen for the second straight month with a slight increase in November.
Private residential prices for the month were up nearly 0.07 percent compared to October, according to the latest data from the Rating and Valuation Department on Friday.
Prices were down 7.8 percent compared to the same month a year ago.
Rents continued to drop for the second month, falling about 0.36 percent compared to October.
〈The Standard, Dec 24, 2024〉Pak Shek Kok's development plan may be adjusted to focus on private housing, the Development Bureau said, adding that the government aims to release a preliminary proposal as early as the second quarter of 2025.
After reviewing the housing area next to Science Park, the Development Bureau found it more appropriate to develop private homes, just four months after the government was reported to have planned to build 10,000 private and public units there.
In response to an inquiry from Sing Tao Daily, The Standard's sister newspaper, the bureau also attributed the U-turn to the government having already identified sufficient land to meet the public housing supply target in the next 10 years.
