〈Asian Post, January 12, 2019〉Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, yesterday said the world faces slower economic growth and warned against speculation in the city's property market.

"This year, the world economy will probably be very complicated. Everyone should be cautious," said Li who retired last year, aged 90, as chairman of CK Asset Holdings and CK Hutchison Group.

"In my own personal opinion, this year the world will face low GDP growth. I'm paying attention to the world economy because the group has businesses in 52 countries." Li was speaking before the CK Group's annual dinner in Wan Chai.

His son, Victor Li, who took over from him as chairman, said: "The rise of protectionism, the unceasing trade disputes, the Brexit uncertainties, the various national election outcomes, and the reappearance of rate hikes all such issues have caused ripples in the global environment and to some extent our group's businesses."

Nevertheless, the company's "deliberate strategy of increasing stable recurrent income" had borne fruit, and the group enjoyed a very strong cash flow, he said.

Asked if he worried about Hong Kong's economy, Li Ka-shing expressed confidence in the market outlook. "I have been in Hong Kong since 1940. For all these years, Hong Kong has survived," he said.

But he said Hong Kong's homes would be "volatile". "It is fine if you can buy a house for your own use within your affordability. You should never buy it for speculation. [It is] a little volatile."

Prices of Hong Kong's lived-in homes have fallen 7.2 per cent in the past four months, according to data from the government's Rating and Valuation Department. A 28-month rally ended in August, and some analysts forecast a drop of as much as a quarter this year.

〈The Standard, January 11, 2019〉A survey conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants reported that 39 percent of the respondents expected Hong Kong's economic performance in 2019 to be poor, 31 percentage points higher than last year.

ACCA Hong Kong head of policy Eunice Chu said that for the coming few months, Hong Kong's economic indicators would see signs of easing.

In the survey of 318 ACCA members in November last year, 48 percent of respondents said that Hong Kong GDP growth would remain 0 to 1.99 percent while 47 percent said 2 percent or more, 21 percentage points down from last year.

Forty-six percent said the Greater Bay Area would be the key factor bringing positive impact to Hong Kong in 2019, while 78 percent said trade war disputes would have a negative impact and more than 50 percent said trade war tension would result in recession in China and Hong Kong.

The Greater Bay Area would have a positive impact on Hong Kong public practice, especially on accounting firms, 41 percent said, while 94 percent said the Greater Bay Area would have little impact on local real estate rentals.

〈Macau Times, January 10, 2019〉Julie Zhu For the first time, there are more Hong Kong residents purchasing properties in Hengqin than Macau residents, the Centaline Property (Macau) revealed during a press conference on the Macau and Hengqin property market in 2018.

Some 27.9 percent of Hengqin property buyers are Hong Kong residents, while 27.3 percent are Macau buyers.

This outcome was facilitated by the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, and is also a result of more Macau single-plated cars being allowed to enter Hengqin, according to Centaline Property analysis.

According to the company, in 2018, a total of 38,486 transactions of Zhuhai property were made, representing an increase of more than 30 percent.

In addition to this increase, Centaline Property (Macau) director Jacky Shek Po Tak expects property prices to increase in 2019 by about 20 percent.

The implementation of the Zhuhai talented people program and the relaxation of talented people’s housing purchase policy, among other policies for talented human resources, are believed to attract more talented people to Hengqin, which suggests a likely surging demand for houses in the area across 2019.

The most popular criteria for buyers in Hengqin is the proximity to the Hengqin border gate, as 34 percent of Hengqin’s property sales were in the vicinity of the Hengqin border.

Among the property transactions around the border, approximately 49 percent were transactions of commercial properties, followed by office property transactions (38 percent).

〈China Daily, January 9, 2019〉Shanghai remains the top destination for real estate investment in China, contributing more than half the nation's property capital, a report said on Thursday.

Despite tight financing conditions, China's property transactions remained stable, with property investment transactions hitting 197.7 billion yuan in 2018.

Shanghai alone contributed 110 billion yuan, accounting for 56 percent of total, according to property consultancy JLL.

'Large capital inflows from foreign investors highlight the strong fundamentals of China's commercial property market,' said Jim Yip, head of capital markets for JLL China and East China.

Yip further said that the central government's deleveraging campaign is creating a tight financial environment, and limited domestic financing channels has affected investors' financing capacity.

The investment sales market in 2018 had a soft start, but gained momentum at the end of the year.

International investors are being given more opportunities to secure deals due to the lack of competition from domestic investors. As a result, international investors and developers took the lion's share of total investment in Shanghai, said James Macdonald, head and senior director of Savills China research.

Industrial experts are however positive about real estate investment in 2019.

In addition to Shanghai, the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will give a boost to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and should bring attention from property investors.

〈Asian Post, January 8, 2019〉Commercial landlords in Hong Kong, who own some of the world's most expensive offices, are doubling or tripling the money tenants must put down as deposit, as a downturn in business sentiment and tightening liquidity on the mainland had led to several renters reneging on leases.

Tenants of businesses related to cryptocurrencies, and those who hailed from the mainland - especially tenants less known to Hong Kong landlords - have been placed under scrutiny, according to several office owners and consultants in the city.

"The economic outlook has soured, so we have to be more cautious on every deal, not just the companies from China," said Tai Hung Fai Enterprise founder Edwin Leong Siu-hung, adding that he would demand six-months' rent as deposit and bank guarantees for unknown tenants who wanted to lease space from his portfolio of offices and shops.

Until recently, mainland tenants were the biggest occupiers of Hong Kong's best office locations. But that stopped with the 2017 crackdown by Beijing on overseas remittances and tightening of liquidity.

HNA Group, one of China's most prolific offshore asset buyers, had to give up on the five floors it rented at Three Exchange Square to cut its borrowing costs.

"We have seen smaller Chinese private enterprises, mainly financial companies such as wealth management or asset management firms, walking away from leases," said Ricky Lau, deputy managing director head of office leasing at Savills. "That never happened in 2018 when the market was strong."