〈Asian Post, January 27, 2018〉The city's red-hot property market shows no sign of slowing. The new year's first property launch got off to a roaring start, as Sun Hung Kai Properties sold all 118 flats at its St Barths complex in Ma On Shan in just one day. This was followed by a second sell-out of another batch of 108 units a week later.

Market conditions today are especially worrying for aspiring first-time buyers and those without solid financing. Would-be buyers may be tempted to chase the market as they fret that prices will only become more unaffordable if they don't take the plunge now. But those who incur heavy debt in the form of a mortgage will also be the most exposed when the market experiences a correction. That is why the government must think carefully before launching any scheme to help first-time buyers to get on the path to becoming a homeowner.

Speaking on the sidelines of an international financial forum this week, James Lau, the secretary for financial services and the treasury, said it should be the right of every citizen to own their own home.

Luckily, he tempered that statement by saying any plan by the government to help young people and other first-time buyers to get on the ownership ladder must be thought through carefully.

The government-owned Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation is considering insurance to help those who do not have enough money to pay 30 per cent as an initial down payment. If enacted, this would mean helping them get 90 per cent mortgages.

The government and the corporation must approach this issue cautiously. While it is certainly desirable for those who want to own their own homes to have one, it is by no means a right or an entitlement. Carrying a long-term mortgage over two or three decades is a huge commitment that may affect a person's life in every aspect. The danger is that after a decade of abnormally low interest rates, the rate cycle has nowhere to go but up. Since most people secure variable rather than fixed mortgage rates, home ownership may be a high-risk proposition.

〈The Standard, January 26, 2018〉Property tycoon Tang Shing Bor said he feels no threat to Hong Kong's property market in the coming two years due to still-expensive land prices and constant capital inflow to the SAR.

Meanwhile, HSBC Asia-Pacific chief executive Peter Wong Tung-shun shared the same view. Wong said interest rates remain relatively low here, and property prices are unlikely to fall massively - even if the Hong Kong Interbank Rate surges more than 2 percent, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported.

Among various kinds of property, veteran investor Tang said he is positive about livelihood such as nursing homes, adding that such property prices have bottomed out and would rise slowly.

Also, prices of industrial buildings remain low, so he has hopes of turning such premises into more active properties. Tang called on the government to work with developers to help ease the tight supply of residential property. For example, the administration can allow developers to transform those industrial buildings into short-term rental housing, while setting a limit on the rents charged. His company, Gorth Management, and Stan Group - chaired by his son Stan Tang - have together turned one of its industrial buildings in Tuen Mun into a 430-room hotel, which is expected to open in mid-year.

The veteran investor also forecast that supply of new hotels will be very limited, as investing in hotels is a low-liquidity game which means it is hard to cash out quickly. That's why many investors have turned to office buildings.

Stan Group is looking to have its operating business listed in 2021. Meanwhile, A 4,733 saleable square foot house from the Pokfulam Peak project, completed by Vantage International (0015), was recently sold for HK$295 million, or about HK$60,200 per ssf, according to the Lands Registry.

〈The Standard, January 25, 2018〉PwC forecast Hong Kong's retail sector could enjoy growth of between 4 percent and 6 percent in 2018, amounting to HK$465 to HK$480 billion, with luxury goods remaining the best-performing sector.

It said Hong Kong retail sales could see an improvement of 3 percent year-on-year for 2017, which was attributable to sales growth of luxury goods especially jewelry pieces and watches.

The growth of retailing was helped by improved sentiment in consumption due to a wealth effect created by high stock and real estate markets, said Michael Cheng, Asia Pacific & Hong Kong/China consumer markets leader of PwC.

Along with the recovery of the market, Hong Kong retailers are speeding up their expansion. Yesterday a new YATA Supermarket was opened at Metroplaza in Kwai Fong, a shopping center developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016). It is the 10th branch of YATA in Hong Kong. The Japanese superstore, which covers an area of 15,723 square feet, cost HK$32 million.

Meanwhile, the local property developer said it expects a 15-25 percent increase in foot traffic for the coming Lunar New Year season, with eight million people at its shopping center Tai Po Mega Mall. It expects sales for the period to reach HK$280 million, with 15-20 growth year on year.

〈Taipei Times, January 24, 2018〉There is a particular bridge in Hong Kong that offers spectacular views: the mouth of a river on one side, and near-identical rows of white apartment blocks and mountains on the other.

No matter where you look, though, you cannot escape the stench of sewage. It wafts up from the treatment plant at Sha Tin, originally built on the territory’s fringe, but now very much part of Hong Kong, as relentless development has pushed the territory outward.However, soon there will be no need to escape: The notorious smell will vanish, as part of Hong Kong’s ambitious plan to move unsightly public works underground.

The Hong Kong government is encouraging a host of businesses to build new facilities deep beneath the earth, inside the mountains that have caused the former British colony to become one of the world’s densest metropolises.

Officials have suggested that logistics facilities, data centers, reservoirs, laboratories and even swimming pools are all suitable for subterranean development.

The government has released a master plan for potential sites — a program that recently won an award from the International Tunnelling Association in Paris — and is working to move other public utilities underground.

"In Hong Kong, the key driver [of cave development] is the land issue," chief town planner Edward Lo said. "Only about 24 percent of the land can be developed in Hong Kong, everything else is hilly areas that aren’t cost-effective to build on. So we want to turn this constraint into an opportunity."

Hong Kong has the most expensive housing market in the world, with median property prices more than 18 times median household incomes.

Since British colonial rule began in the mid-19th century, the territory has relied on reclaimed land, given the hilly terrain, and is plagued by property cartels and static government housing policy.

〈Taipei Times, January 23, 2018〉Provincial capitals are easing household registration curbs for educated people in a bid to lure talent, but critics say the schemes aim to boost government revenue and risk fueling a rise in property prices

China’s provincial capitals have discovered a way to keep apartment sales booming by making it much easier for graduates to get coveted household registration permits.

Authorities in the cities said the main aim is to lure talent to make their labor pools more attractive to companies.

However, the policies are undermining the authorities’ efforts to control property speculation and are artificially propping up prices, critics in the real estate and securities industries have said.

The permits, known as hukou (戶口), have been used to control internal migration in China for many years. Without a permit, a resident of a city might not be able to get a whole slew of public services, including education and healthcare, and would sometimes have to live on the margins of society.

Now, cities such as Chengdu — the capital of Sichuan Province — are reversing the process by handing out hukou to college degree holders. In Chengdu’s case that is anyone under the age of 45.

Not only that. They are in some cases providing these graduates with cash incentives if they buy an apartment.For example, any post-doctoral degree holder who takes up hukou in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, would be handed 100,000 yuan (US$15,617) for a first home purchase. For college degree holders the incentive is 20,000 yuan.