〈China Daily, September 22, 2018〉On the conclusion of the government-sponsored great property debate, it would be fair to ask: What’s the point of such a grand exercise when the government, its numerous advisers and politicians agree that increasing land supply is the only way to bring down property prices.

Since it’s beyond the government’s capability to influence property demand, and all the administrative measures introduced so far have proved to be ineffectual, raising supply seems to be the only option available to cool the market frenzy.

This brings up another question: Why is everybody saying that home prices in Hong Kong are too high when there’s no shortage of buyers who’re eager to snap up apartments in newly completed projects at any price demanded by developers as soon as they are put up for sale?

It seems the developers are right in saying that the local demand for property is “inelastic”. This means that increasing the supply is not going to depress prices. Instead, it would just bring in more buyers.

Economists are quick to note that the demand for property is driven mainly by the abnormally low interest rates and easy credit. As prices continue to go up, more and more people are buying properties for capital gain. Their so-called “Hong Kong dream” is to make money on their property investments.

That explains why so many people are willing to pay up to HK$3 million for a “nano” apartment with an average floor area of merely 18 square meters.

Apartments this small are not going to bring about much improvement in the quality of life for anyone. People willing to spend that kind of money can easily afford to rent larger and nicer places to live in.

〈The Standard, Sptember 21, 2018〉A four-bedroom house in the exclusive Peak neighborhood has hit the market for an eye-watering HK$3.5 billion, which would make it the most expensive home sold in Hong Kong.

The modestly-sized house at 24 Middle Gap Road on the Hong Kong Island sits on 16,330 sq ft of land and comes with a swimming pool, parking for two cars, and some dated nineties decor.

"It's more about the land it's on than the house itself," said Lawrence Brown, a senior consultant at Executive Homes Hong Kong. "The house is quite old. If they are going to pay that much, they would probably knock it down or put another nicer house there."

The house is currently leased to a tenant, according to Landscope Christie's International Real Estate, which is listing the property. It is owned by the management of Chuang's Consortium International (0637), who purchased it in 2004 for just HK$142 million, documents lodged with the Land Registry show.

Meanwhile, Midland Realty expects home prices to fall by 2 to 3 percent in the fourth quarter as uncertainties in market continue amid the ongoing Sino-US trade war. The volatility in the stock market has also impacted home prices, said chief executive of Midland Sammy Po Siu-ming. He expected there will be 9,000 new homes to be sold in the fourth quarter.

〈The Standard, September 20, 2018〉New World Development's (0017) underlying net profit rose by 12 percent as property sales reached HK$24.7 billion, exceeding the targeted amount of HK$10 billion.

The group's underlying net profit rose to HK$7.98 billion for the year ended June 30 up from HK$7.13 billion a year ago.

During the year, the group's revenues amounted to HK$7.14 billion with HK$2.86 billion coming from property developments in Hong Kong.

These included residential projects Mount Pavilia in Clear Water Bay, The Pavilia Hill in North Point, as well as Park Villa in Yuen Long and the Double Cove series in Ma On Shan.

The Masterpiece in Tsim Sha Tsui, a joint venture project with the Urban Renewal Authority also contributed to the sales.

The company will pay a final dividend of 34 HK cents. Together with the interim dividend of 14 HK cents paid, this brings the total dividend to 48 HK cents for the year, compared with 46 HK cents from previous year.

〈Asian Post, September 19, 2018〉About 883 homes will go up for sale in Hong Kong, the world's least affordable housing market, during the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival period this year.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), the city's biggest developer by market value, will put 32 flats at its Cullinan West II development in western Kowloon up for sale on Sunday. On Tuesday, it will offer 144 flats at its soon-to-be completed Park Yoho Napoli development in Yuen Long.

Nan Fung Development will also put 707 flats at its LP6 development in Tseung Kwan O up for sale on Tuesday.

The sale, the biggest in more than five years, will come two days before an expected interest rate increase announcement by the US Federal Reserve on Thursday.

The developers want to unload stock before the Fed's interest rate move and before the US-China trade war further dampens sentiment, said Alvin Cheung, associate director at Prudential Brokerage.

"The interest rate rise has made potential homebuyers worry about a heavier mortgage burden under a likelier rise in prime rates among local banks," Cheung said.

"Homebuyers have held back buying decisions [in the hope of] a potential downward adjustment in home prices. So the home market sentiment is souring, and developers dare not price homes at a fat premium." He added developers would continue to launch projects in a rush as a result.

〈The Standard, September 18, 2018〉Acquiring land through the Lands Resumption Ordinance with the promise of financial incentives will aid the housing crisis Hong Kong faces, a think tank said.

The recommendation was included in a study conducted by the Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, which was led by real estate tycoon Lau Ming-wai, after it held 13 in-depth interviews with 24 professionals from different sectors between May and August.

The center said the government can introduce an "early mover allowance" by paying an additional allowance to land owners who are willing to move out early to speed up the land resumption process.

Agnes Ching Yin-fong, the center's deputy director of research, said it currently takes a lengthy period of time for the government to negotiate compensation with the affected land owners. The development of the land had to be suspended because of the subsequent legal process.

"We think the eligibility criteria and amount for the allowance should link with the established compensation policy," she said.

Ching also said the allowance should be set at five to 10 percent of the current ex-gratia land resumption compensation rates.

"We saw that, the more flexible the compensation is, it can accelerate the land resumption process," she said.

Lau, the center's vice chairman and convener of the study, said society has set its sights on reclamation and the Fanling golf course in the past few months, but discussion so far had not been comprehensive.