Property deals in Hong Kong fell to a three-month low in May as caution prevailed amid heightened US-China tensions and stock market volatility, while distressed commercial real estate owners continued to offload assets at heavily discounted prices.
Transactions for new and lived-in homes, offices, shops, car parking slots and industrial units dropped 11 per cent month on month to 6,434, the lowest tally since February, according to data from Centaline Property Agency. The value of the deals rose 1.3 per cent from a month earlier to HK$50.7 billion (US$6.4 billion), a six-month high.
Last month’s biggest deal was Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing’s HK$6.3 billion purchase of office and retail space in One Exchange Square and other related assets in Central from Hongkong Land, according to the property agency.
Meanwhile, commercial property owners continued to sell assets at a loss, with the decline in the Hong Kong interbank offered rate (Hibor) attracting investors.
Edwin Lee, the founder of Bridgeway Prime Shop Fund Management, said on Monday that his fund had sold 10 street-level shops in the last three months at losses ranging from 12.8 per cent to 43.5 per cent.
The first Securities and Futures Commission-licensed fund manager focused exclusively on shops and retail property incurred a loss of 25 per cent on its investment of HK$207.5 million.
