〈The Standard, Sept 23, 2023〉More than 1,360 residential units were approved for presale in the primary market last month, bringing the total to over 16,000 units that have been approved for sale but not yet officially listed for sale in the market.

Kai Tak has the lion's share of units, surpassing 8,200, which constitutes 60 percent of the total.

The bulk of the rest are in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long with approximately 3,300 units and 2,000 units respectively.

Currently, there are seven new projects in Kai Tak that have been approved for sale but have not yet been officially listed.

〈The Standard, Sept 22, 2023〉CK Asset (1113) has launched sales of more homes at La Grande Ville in Beijing with the cheapest priced at 6.2 million yuan (HK$6.66 million).

The development is situated in Shunyi district, where Beijing Capital International Airport is also located.

The latest offerings include homes ranging from 120 to 240 square meters.

CK Asset's sales department chief manager William Kwok Tze-wai expects to attract young homebuyers after Beijing relaxed the limits on home purchase mortgage loans.

〈Hong Kong Business, Sept 21, 2023〉The high demand for retail shops spanning 1,000 square feet and 2,000 sqft prompted a reshuffling of first-tier shopping streets, with Kai Chiu Road in Causeway Bay and Haiphong Road in Tsim Sha Tsui emerging as the most favoured shopping streets in Hong Kong.

The two shopping streets drew the highest level of leasing activity so far this year, reported JLL.

In terms of rents, Kai Chiu Road has reduced its rental gap with Russell Street by about 40 percentage points. Rents in Haiphong Road, meanwhile, are only 40% lower than the pre-pandemic levels.

Prior to the pandemic, retail rents on Russell Street were 110% to 120% higher than those on Kai Chiu Road. Currently, the retail rental differential stands at 70% to 80% in favour of Russell Street.

〈Asian Post, Sept 20, 2023〉The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has retained its base rate at 5.75% in response to the US Fed’s decision to keep its target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.5%.

“The policy decision this time is generally in line with market expectations. The Fed stressed that its future interest rate decisions would continue to be dependent on the latest economic data and the impact of continual rate hikes during the past year on the economy,” the central bank said.

“It is therefore premature to conclude whether the US rate hike cycle has been completed, and the high-interest rate environment is likely to last for some time,” it added.

〈CNBC HK, Sept 19, 2023〉Singapore has dethroned Hong Kong to become the world's freest economy, according to a report released by Canadian think tank Fraser Institute.

For the first time since the Economic Freedom of the World Index started in 1970, Hong Kong slipped to second place from the number one spot — and its score is about to drop even further.