〈The Standard, Oct 8, 2022〉Home deals priced below HK$10 million have become the major growth driver in the primary market, though the pandemic and interest rate rises this year have hit the property industry.

Data from agencies show that new homes priced at HK$10 million or below saw 1,919 transactions last month, accounting for 94 percent of total home purchases in the primary market.

That also caused new-home transactions to rise to 2,040 in August, marking a 15-month high.

The 94 percent seen last month is a steep climb from 45.6 percent in February, when the fifth wave of the pandemic hit Hong Kong, and brings key support for a sluggish property market.

〈The Standard, Oct 7, 2022〉Small and medium-sized property agents are expanding their "armies" though the property market has been driven down by a Covid rebound and the federal funds rate rising.

One of them is Many Wells property agency, which announced recently it would to hire 300 agents.

To attract potential employees, the company even promised that every agent there could close a deal quickly, said chief executive Wong Dun-king.

Agencies, however, agree that they should be cautious about recruiting more staff or increasing their shop numbers amid a need to centralize resources and optimize the workforce to improve their ability to survive in an ailing market.

〈Hong Kong Business, Oct 6, 2022〉Property sale and purchase agreements for all building units were down 7.7% month-on-month (MoM) in September to 4,835, and 34.7% lower compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Land Registry.

Total consideration for the sale and purchase deals was down 62% MoM to 34,768 and declined 48% year-on-year (YoY).

Data also showed that 3,875 of the total agreements were residential units, declining by 6.33% MoM and 33.69% YoY.

The total consideration was at around $29.1b, down by 10.45% MoM and 48.1% from the same period last year.

〈Asian Post, Oct 5, 2022〉The government will sell by tender three residential sites in Kai Tak, Stanley, and Kennedy Town under the Land Sale Program for the third quarter of the current financial year.

According to Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn, the three sites will provide about 2,500 units of flats.

With the addition of the three sites, the total private housing supply in the third quarter will be about 5,900 units.

Together with the 6,000 units in the first half of the year, the total private housing land supply for the first three quarters will be about 11,900 flats or 90% above the government's annual target.

Apart from residential sites, the government will also sell commercial land on Anderson Road in Kwun Tong which has an estimated gross floor area of 10,250 square meters.

〈Asian Post, Oct 4, 2022〉Prices of new projects launched between August to September were 7% to 12.6% lower than the average price of secondary projects in nearby precincts, JLL reported.

There were five new launches over the last two months, namely, NOVO Land (Phase 1A and 1B) in Tuen Mun District, ONE INNOVALE (Archway) in Fanling, Larchwood in Mongkok, and Miami Quay 1 in Kai Tak.

According to the property expert, prices of new launches were at an average discount of 10% due to the interest rates hike which in turn led to increasing mortgage rates.

"The rise in mortgage rates has already cast a shadow on the housing market. Borrowers on HIBOR linked mortgages have been subject to higher mortgage rates as the HIBOR began to edge up in early 2022," said Nelson Wong, executive director of research at JLL in Hong Kong, said.