Expectations for housing pricesto rise over the next 12 Months hit record high

HONGKONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 26 July 2018 - Citi Hong Kong announced today the results ofthe latest Hong Kong Residential Property Ownership Survey. The bankcommissioned The University of Hong Kong Social Sciences Research Centre toconduct a telephone survey, interviewing over 500 Hong Kong respondentsselected by random digital dialing in June of 2018.

Record Number of Respondents Expected HousingPrices to Rise

over the Next 12 Months

According to the latest survey, the percentage ofrespondents who expected Hong Kong housing prices to rise over the next 12months trended upward between the third quarter of 2017 and the second quarterof 2018, rising to 69% (see Table 1), the highest since the survey wasintroduced. The percentage of respondents who expected housing prices to dropover the next 12 months fell to 9%, the same levels as the first quarter of2017.

Table 1

Base: AllRespondents
*Figures inthe above table may not add up to 100% due to rounding

The Desire to Buy a Home Consistent with theLast Quarter

In terms of the desire to buy a home, 19% of respondentsexpressed considerable interest in purchasing a residential property in thesecond quarter of 2018 (see Table 2). The percentage is consistent with theprevious two quarters.

Table 2

Base:  All Respondents

Respondents Who Felt It Was Not a Good Time toBuy a Home on the Rise Again

The survey also found that the number of respondents whofelt that it was not a good time to purchase a home, increased from 69% in thefirst quarter of 2018 to 73% in the second quarter (see Table 3).  By contrast, the number of respondents whofelt that it was a good time to buy remained steady at a low 3%. 

Table 3

Base: All Respondents

The Desire to Buy Increased Among RespondentsAged 30 to 44 

With housing prices at a high, the desire to buy a homedropped among all age groups over the last two quarters, with the exception ofthe respondents aged 30 to 44. Their desire to buy a home rose slightly, by 2%per quarter since the fourth quarter of 2017, to 23% in the second quarter of2018. However, 66% felt that it was a bad time to buy a home, a 3% increasesince the first quarter of 2018.

Since 2010, Citibank has commissioned the HKU SocialSciences Research Centre to conduct a quarterly survey on the housing market toassess the current state of homeownership in Hong Kong, and to gauge publicopinion on the subject of homeownership and public expectations in terms offuture housing price trends.  Data fromthe random-digital-dialing telephone survey is collected at the end of eachquarter, with over 500 respondents on average interviewed in each quarter.

Source:  Citi Hong Kong Residential Property OwnershipSurvey Q2 2018