〈Asian Post, Feb 26, 2022〉Two of Hong Kong’s biggest property developers and retail landlords have posted declining profits and foresee more challenges ahead as the city’s social- distancing rules keep consumers away from shopping centres.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), which owns New Town Plaza and Yoho Mall in Sha Tin and Yuen Long, said its interim core profit fell by 15 per cent to HK$14.8 billion in the six months to the end of December from a year ago. The decrease was mainly due to lower sales completions at residential projects, it said.

Hysan Development, the largest landlord in Causeway Bay, said its 2021 underlying profit declined by 3 per cent to HK$2.3 billion, while sales shrank by 2.7 per cent to HK$3.6 billion.

"The recent outbreak of Omicron infections is expected to bring additional challenges to the local economy, particularly the domestic consumption and contact-intensive industries," Raymond Kwok Ping-luen, chairman of SHKP, said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.

〈Asian Post, Feb 25, 2022〉Prices of lived-in homes in Hong Kong suffered their biggest drop in almost two years as the fifth wave of Covid-19 prompted anxious owners to offload their flats at steeper discounts.

Prices fell 1.14 per cent to 388.9 in January, according to an index published by the Rating and Valuation Department yesterday. It was the sharpest decline since February 2020 when the gauge retreated by 1.6 per cent.

And the worst may be yet to come, according to Ricacorp Properties which forecasts a 4 per cent fall in prices in the first quarter of the year before a rebound once the fifth wave of the coronavirus is brought under control.

"The number of Covid-19 infections soared to record levels from late January and triggered some anxious homeowners to offer bigger discounts. It will deepen the downward adjustment in the coming months," said Dereck Chan, head of research at Ricacorp.

He expects to see a 1.5 per cent fall in prices this month, followed by a decline of more than 1 per cent in March.

〈Macau Daily Times, Feb 24, 2022〉Two residential sites in Wan Chai and Sai Ying Pun that can together deliver 270 flats are set to be sold via tender in the next quarter.

The price of the Wan Chai site, which is presently the Lui Kee Education Services Centre, is expected to be HK$1.74 billion or HK$15,000 per square foot, said James Cheung, executive director at Centaline Surveyors.

And government officials said 13 plots in the next financial year's land sale program will provide about 8,250 units.

Four c2ommercial sites, involving a total of about 296,800 square meters, will also be launched.

〈Asian Post, Feb 23, 2022〉THE property market in Macau will enter a new downward cycle, considering factors such as crackdowns on illegal gambling, an international commercial property agency has forecast.

International commercial realty firm JLL pointed out that, despite signs of revival in mid-2021, several new outbreaks of Covid-19 in Macau and Hong Kong have hampered the recovery.

The firm attributed the cause of the slowdown not just to the pandemic, but also to economic and security operations.

"The global economic and political uncertainties, coupled with the recent government crackdowns on illegal gambling and money laundering, are expected to cast a shadow over the outlook of the property market," JLL noted.

"In 2021, the total property transaction value in Macau recorded[was] about MOP49.77 billion, down 2.6% year-on-year. Both the total number and value of transactions reached a record low since the subprime mortgage lending crisis," wrote Mark Wong, director of valuation advisory services at JLL Macau.

〈China Daily, Feb 22, 2022〉Locals and expatriates offloading homes amid escalating fifth wave and tough restrictions, with number of sales recording net losses on the rise

Some owners are selling their homes in Hong Kong at a loss as they look to escape a resurgent Covid-19 outbreak that has broken daily infection records and brought tough social-distancing restrictions to the city.

About 2.5 per cent of Hong Kong’s 1,018 transactions of lived-in homes last year recorded a net loss, 50 basis points higher than the 2 per cent recorded in 2020, according to data compiled by Ricacorp Properties.

A flat measuring 741 sq ft at The Visionary in Tung Chung sold last week for HK$9.57 million, 1.6 per cent more than its purchase price of HK$9.42 million four years ago, but resulting in a HK$310,000 net loss for the expatriate seller after adding in fees and commissions, said Midland Realty’s area sales manager Johnny Huang.