Hong Kong's overall stamp duty revenues plunged 30 percent quarter-on-quarter to a record low of HK$1.25 billion in the third quarter, amid US interest rate hikes and global economic downturn, data from the Inland Revenue Department shows.

The number of transactions between July and September also slumped 22.8 percent to 657 from three months ago.

The number of cases for special stamp duty dropped 23.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to 50, an over-10-year low, and the revenue also plunged 16.8 percent to HK$39.7 million.

Buyer's stamp duty brought the government 25.1 percent less revenue to HK$303.6 million from July to September, while the amount of double stamp duty was reduced by 31.7 percent to HK$907 million compared to last quarter.

A property agency appealed to the government to lift all stamp duties in the coming policy address to avoid home prices to fall faster and to avoid negative equity cases to surge.

In other news, the compulsory sale of Rose Court at Yau Yat Chuen will start next month, with a reserve price of HK$2.075 billion.

The project's gross build-able floor area is up to 116,800 square feet, or HK$17,735 per square foot.

Completed in 1967, Rose Court consists of 22 blocks of 3-storey residential buildings, offering a total of 66 residential units and 66 car parking spaces.

(The Standard)

Hong Kong’s housing market cooling measures: What are they? Have they done their job? And should they be relaxed?

The government and the monetary authority have introduced a variety of duties and rules to cool the city’s hot property market since 2010

With the market now in a slump, developers and agents would like to see these measures relaxed

Since the Hong Kong government began introducing cooling measures for the property market in 2010, annual home sales have generally declined. But this year at least one analyst believes that the number of transactions will fall to a 32-year low, raising questions about whether an already cooling market needs more cooling.

Between 2007 and 2010, annual sales of new homes, lived-in homes and public housing units numbered between 97,678 and 137,721, according to official government data. Between 2011 and 2021, sales numbered between 52,811 and 86,049.

Between those two time periods, the government introduced a series of new stamp duties – taxes on residential property transactions. In addition the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city’s de facto central bank, has imposed rules on home loans that act to cool the market.

So far this year, overall property transactions, including residential and non-residential property, stand at 39,409. A property agent estimates that for the rest of the year only about 25,000 units are likely to be sold, bringing the annual tally of property sales to a 32-year low.

Many factors besides the cooling measures play a role in the current market slump, including the pandemic and its associated quarantine measures, rising interest rates, a stock-market in bear territory and recession fears.

Nonetheless, an association representing property developers is calling on the government to relax the cooling measures. The association warns that slumping prices threaten to push many homeowners into negative equity – where their loan amounts are higher than their home values.

What stamp duties has the government implemented to cool property prices?

Special Stamp Duty (SSD): Introduced in November 2010, this tax is applicable to any residential property that is resold within 36 months, and the less time an owner holds a property, the higher the applicable rate. The SSD initially was between 5 and 15 per cent, but this was raised to between 10 and 20 per cent in 2012.

Buyer Stamp Duty (BSD): Rolled out in October 2012, the BSD aims to suppress demand from people who are not Hong Kong permanent residents. It charges such buyers a flat rate of 15 per cent on the value of the property.

Double Stamp Duty (DSD): This tax, introduced in 2013, doubles the ad valorem (according to value) stamp duty tax for a buyer who is not a first-time buyer or who already holds a residential property in Hong Kong.

Higher ad valorem rate: In November 2016, the government raised the ad valorem rate to a flat 15 per cent for all buyers except Hong Kong permanent residents who are first-time buyers or do not already own a residential property in Hong Kong. The rate was between 4.25 and 8.5 per cent previously.

What do the terms ‘loan-to value ratio’ (LTV), ‘debt-servicing ratio’ (DSR) and ‘stress test’ mean?

The HKMA has launched several measures to cool home prices.

In 2020 HKMA capped the allowed LTV ratio – the ratio of the amount being borrowed to the value of the property concerned – at between 30 and 60 per cent, down from between 60 and 70 per cent previously.

The regulator also requires banks to assess an applicants’ DSR, which indicates how much stress paying the mortgage will impose on an applicant’s finances. The DSR is simply the ratio of the monthly mortgage repayment amount to the monthly income of the borrower. The DSR was capped at between 30 and 60 per cent in 2010, down from between 50 and 60 per cent previously.

Banks are also required to perform a stress test to estimate an applicant’s ability to pay the mortgage in case of interest-rate increases.

On September 23, the HKMA asked banks to reduce the stress test requirement from a simulated hike of 300 basis points to an increase of 200 basis points, effectively making the test easier to pass.

Hong Kong’s base interest rate has been raised five times this year to 3.5 per cent, a 14-year high, in lockstep with increases by the US Federal Reserve. Commercial banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of China (Hong Kong) raised their prime rates late last month to a four-year high.

Have the cooling measures actually reduced residential sales?

Residential sales transactions between 2011 and 2021 were 37 per cent lower than they were between 2002 and 2010, a property agent said.

The myriad of cooling measures, most notably the punitive stamp duties on property transactions, have largely eliminated the market participation of non-residents, investors and owners of multiple homes, the agent said.

Have the cooling measures reduced home prices?

“Over the years, all these measures cooled down the number of transactions, but not the price,” the agent said.

Prices of lived-in homes in Hong Kong increased by 160 per cent from 2010 to 2021, according to a government index tracking the segment.

Families living in the city need to save up for an average of 23.2 years, without spending a single dollar on anything else, to afford a home in the city, according to the 2022 Demographia International Housing report.

Prices have fallen by about 6.5 per cent so far in 2022, however, hitting their lowest level in three-and-a-half years in August, according to a government index. Prices could nosedive 30 per cent through 2023 as interest rates deter buyers, according to a Goldman Sachs forecast.

Are Hong Kong homeowners likely to face negative equity if cooling measures remain?

Hong Kong saw 55 cases of residential mortgage loans in negative equity in the three months ended June 30, according to HKMA data, down from 104 in the three months ended March 31.

The number of negative-equity cases is on the brink of spiking as home prices have fallen almost 10 per cent, according to the agent.

Recent borrowers with LTV of 90 per cent – a high LTV available only to first-time buyers through the HKMA’s mortgage insurance programme – are at risk of falling into the negative equity camp if prices continue to trend lower. A spike in negative equity cases in 2016 – when prices fell more than 10 per cent from a peak – represents a relevant reference for what might lie ahead.

(South China Morning Post)

商廈錄57.7萬呎淨吸納量 外資代理行：升級搬遷趨勢主導

今年上半年第五波疫情後，整體寫字樓租賃於第三季度錄57.7萬方呎淨吸納量，租賃回升同時，港島東和九龍東三座新寫字樓相繼於今年第三季度投入市場，新落成總寫字樓淨樓面約180萬方呎，令整體空置率攀升至12.6%。

有外資代理行代理表示，新落成甲廈推高空置率，有見升級搬遷 (flight-to-quality) 趨勢持續，質素較低寫字樓受壓，整體甲廈租金於2022年第三季度按季跌1.5%。九龍東和西九龍租金分別按季微升0.9%和0.4%，灣仔及銅鑼灣租金按季跌2.4%。

第三季僅錄26宗大買賣

該行另一代理說，政府放寬入境措施，有助帶動跨國公司對寫字樓租賃需求，預計新增甲廈供應將達到330萬方呎，料升級搬遷將導致同區甲廈空置走向兩極化。

今年第三季受加息影響，僅錄26宗大買賣，按季跌16%，按年跌49%，金額僅錄26億，按季下挫73%。該行另一代理說，核心區一綫街鋪有升值潛力，工業資產受投資者青睞，高力預測2022年的整體成交量按年增長15%。

加息對住宅市場構成壓力，預期私人樓宇價格因此下調，由於買賣雙方期望差距擴大，導致今年第2季度二手住宅季度成交量按年下跌32.3%。該行分析，7月至9月的2823宗二手交易，見業主接受減價，400方呎以下細價樓最明顯，以低市價5%至20%成交，上升了26%。

該行另一代理說，早於疫情爆發前，繳納買家印花稅只佔5.7%，預計開放邊境，未必能扭轉住宅價格跌勢，預計今年樓價按年跌10%至12%，細價樓首當其衝。

(星島日報)

大手買賣錄214億按季微跌2.3%

有外資代理行指出，受加息和環球經濟不明朗影響，投資者持審慎態度，今年第三季，逾億大手物業總成交額錄約214億，按季及按年分別微跌2.3%和1.4%，年初至今總額暫錄約543億，與上年同期比較按年跌16.6%，季內寫字樓交投回暖，重建地盤及具改裝為出租公寓潛力的住宅或酒店，亦受追捧。

外資代理行：寫字樓佔50%

寫字樓物業成交在第三季顯著回升至108億，佔季內總交易額50%，亦是自2020年第四季以來的新高，主要受兩宗大筆交易推動，包括九龍灣高銀金融國際中心全幢，估計約70億，以及基金AresSSG以近31億向新世界購入長沙灣永康街商廈項目51%權益，以上成交反映投資者對甲廈長綫後市信心。

疫下酒店減價出售

投資者仍積極物色酒店或公寓收購機會。其中，共居品牌及投資者WeaveLiving與領盛投資管理 (LaSalle Investment) 組成的合營企業，收購羅便臣道68號全幢住宅，涉資2.75億，預期市場上的酒店買賣陸續有來，而且部分將涉及改裝為共居空間，以提高價值。受限於政府防疫隔離措施和疫情發展，不少中小型酒店面臨財政壓力，故部分酒店業主願意減價出售。

(星島日報)

更多高銀金融國際中心出租樓盤資訊請參閱：高銀金融國際中心出租

更多九龍灣區甲級寫字樓出租樓盤資訊請參閱：九龍灣區甲級寫字樓出租

玫瑰苑下月初強拍底價逾20億

本港市區豪宅地皮供應罕有，不少財團向舊樓埋手密密併購，並且透過強拍途徑增加土儲。由財團申請強拍的九龍塘玫瑰苑，早前獲土地審裁處批出強拍令之後，落實於今年11月3日進行拍賣，底價為20.75億，較申請強拍時估值約9.954億，高出10.796億。

土審處文件顯示，今次獲批強拍令的玫瑰苑，位於又一村玫瑰街23至34號，毗鄰私樓又一居，項目早於2020年由BREMONT INVESTMENTS LIMITED申請強拍，上個月終於獲該處批出強制售賣令。

曾4度向小業主出價

該財團2020年申請強拍時，持有約80.30%業權，最新增加至87.88%，目前餘下8個物業未成功收購。

該財團曾於2020年至2022年間，四度向小業主出價收購依然遭拒絕，其中2020年4月曾出價約2508萬至2761萬，其後於2021年4月及今年2月兩度提高出價，今年7月出價進一步增至約3000萬至3300萬，然而依然未能打動小業主。

料可發展為低密度豪宅

現時上址為22幢樓高3層的住宅，早於1967年落成，地盤面積約138960方呎，現劃為「住宅 (丙類) 7」用途，料可發展為低密度豪宅。

(星島日報)

美景樓未達強拍門檻 收購告吹 有住戶索價每呎1.8萬 參與業權份數78.09%

本報今年5月率先披露土瓜灣美景樓收購，事件有新進展，本報得悉由於美景樓最終收購業權份數未能達至整體80%強拍的門檻下限水平，負責收購的財團決定放棄收購，令收購計畫被逼告吹，該財團並稱，直至政府立法調低強拍門檻後，屆時再根據市況釐定是否重新啟動收購計畫。

本報取得的文件顯示，就收購美景樓第一期全幢物業，截至2022年9月30日，一期全幢共取得760份業權份數，經財團點算已簽合約同意收購共有593.5份 (已包括尚未補簽的61個單位)，佔全幢大廈78.09%業權份數。

本報5月率先披露財團收購

由於同意進行收購的業權份數，未達現時強拍條例下最低80%的下限要求，故此財團決定放棄此次收購計畫，並表示：「直至政府立法調低強拍門檻，再根據當時市況重新釐定及啟動收購計畫。屆時希望各業主能繼續支持及參與聯合出售計畫。」

每呎收購價1.6萬

該文件並剖析收購告吹的主要原因，包括唔賣及失蹤人口單位共有38伙 (約佔5%)；另外無參與業權的單位共涉及67.5伙 (約佔8.88%)，以及貪心業主要求每方呎收購價18000元單位佔61伙 (約佔8.02%)，三項因素合計佔全幢業權份數的21.9%，令是次美景樓收購事宜告吹。

有小業主對是次收購告吹感失望，並痛斥未肯參與的單位要求每方呎收購價達18000元太高，令收購計畫未能成功之餘，由於大廈樓齡已達58年，未來並要「夾錢」進行大規模維修，形容該等單位「累街坊」！

小業主對收購告吹感失望

土瓜灣為重建項目主要核心地區，不少有相當樓齡的舊樓成為財團收購的目標，資料顯示，本報得悉有財團對美景樓第一期進行收購，並於今年5月率先披露該財團以每方呎1.6萬向大廈業主進行收購，當時已集整體的七成業權，該每方呎出價1.6萬元，當中買賣合約價每方呎約1.1萬，另向住戶補貼5000元的搬遷費用，合計約1.6萬。

美景樓極具重建價值

美景樓第一期位於美景街及落山道交界，早於1964年落成，樓齡已達58年，合共提供約701個住宅單位，由於步行前往港鐵土瓜灣站只須約5分鐘，極具重建價值，該舊樓佔地約4.54萬方呎，為市區罕見的大型地盤，若以地積比率9倍重建發展，涉及可建總樓面約40.88萬方呎。是次收購計畫告吹，業主須付一定費用作維修，但由於大廈日久失修，有不同程度的漏水、石屎剝落等問題，有業主曾向本報透露，初步估計維修費用每戶約5萬至10萬，故不少業主對是次收購計畫抱有一定希望。

有業界人士表示，樓市雖然受到疫情及加息等因素打擊，樓價亦較年初顯著下跌，惟市區地皮供應有限，以上述美景樓位置，鄰近港鐵站，地盤面積亦不少，為市區難得的地皮，故樓價下跌下，有住戶不願以低價出售單位，亦情有可原，事實上，區內現時新盤造價每方呎達1.8萬至逾2萬不等，該收購價每方呎約1.6萬，與市價仍有一段距離。

(星島日報)

兩測量師行 齊看淡樓市

樓價或挫5成  美停加息才回穩

加息衝擊下，近期樓價持續回落，多家測量師行紛紛調整未來樓市預測。最悲觀的一間外資測量師行預測，樓價會重演於1999至2003年間的漫長下行周期，最終或有機會累跌近50%，認為現在是撤辣的最好時機，以免負資產情況再現。

另一測量師行亦預料，今年全年樓價下跌約12%。

測量師負責人指，今年至今樓價已下跌近10%，雖樓價不會斷崖式下滑，但在加息及全球經濟疲弱等因素影響下，預期明年樓價會重演於1999至2003年間的漫長下行周期，當時期內每年樓價跌10%，累積跌幅近50%。

測量師行籲撤辣稅 防負資產潮

該測量師認為，政府應具前瞻性，在樓價跌勢加劇前採取行動，建議當局立即撤銷買家印花稅 (Buyer's Stamp Duty，BSD) 及額外印花稅 (Special Stamp Duty，SSD)，並避免分段執行。撤銷BSD是挽留人才的重點，相信撤銷BSD後，其正面影響較通關更大。

該測量師表示，因為SSD政策對於本受經濟困擾的業主有更大打擊及造成不公，所以認為當局應該同時撤銷SSD。該測量師亦建議2,000萬元以上住宅按揭成數該交回銀行決定 (現時最高借貸成數為5成)，因為現時按揭成數規定令準買家難以換樓，導致豪宅交投冰封。

該測量師又指，若政府考慮立即撤銷辣招，即使樓市跌勢持續，但可以減慢其跌勢，或留有喘息空間，否則明年樓價會進一步跌逾10%。同時，隨着息口上升，料明年負資產數字將明顯上升，相信豪宅的交投最受影響。

而鑑於通關後亦不代表有大量現金流向本港市場，加上外地人為免繳稅，會盡量避免在港置業，因此如政府不撤辣，通關與否對樓市的影響並不大。

另外，另一測量師行指，美國加息令按揭息口及置業人士的最低收入要求提高，對住宅市場構成壓力，置業人士預期樓價下調。由於買賣雙方價格期望差距擴大，導致今年第二季二手住宅市場的季度成交量按年下挫32.3%。

測量師行倡降印花稅率 招才吸資

該測量師行負責人指，未來6個月的住宅價格調整步伐或會加快，預計樓價於今年將進一步按年跌10%至12%，而明年尚有調整壓力，直至明年下半年美國或停止加息，樓價可望回穩。

該測量師亦指，過往在住宅物業BSD中，非香港永久性居民只佔5.7%，預計通關未必能夠扭轉住宅價格的跌勢。另外，該測量師認為政府可考慮重新審視辣招，如降低BSD稅率 (現為樓價30%)，可望吸納人才來港以及投資。

(經濟日報)

灣仔捷利中心地舖招租 月租叫價35萬

港鐵會展站開通後，對灣仔區工商舖物業受惠最大，更成為不少投資者追捧對象，有個別財團更於日內斥資逾1億元連環購入灣仔3個舖位，反映區內舖位投資前景亮麗，更帶動區內租務氣氛趨暢旺。新近有業主看準時機，將灣仔告士打道兩個相連地舖放租，意向月租合共約35萬元。

最大面積3865呎 每呎租金65

有代理表示，招租物業位於灣仔告士打道42至46號捷利中心地下1號舖以及地下3至4號舖，當中面積最大為地下3至4號舖，面積約3,865平方呎，目前租用予豪舍銷售陳列室，租期將於明年屆滿。而業主計劃以預租方式，以每月約25萬元招租推出市場，平均呎租約65元。

地下1號舖 交吉叫租10萬

同時，比鄰的地下1號舖，面積約1,000平方呎，目前已告交吉，現以每月約10萬元招租。兩個舖位均適合各行各業，包括車行，銀行，陳列室，餐飲業等。業主更為吸引目標行業承租，調整較大議價空間，幅度由約20至30%不等。

該代理指出，大廈提供優質管理服務，現時中、高層寫字樓部分有個別樓層招租中，部分坐擁維港海景，面積由約1,108平方呎起，至全層約7,009平方呎不等，意向呎租由40元起。該代理續稱，面對灣仔區利好因素不絕，工商舖前景向好，在租金叫價上仍傾向克制，更按目標租客群，提供較大議價空間，幅度約20至30%。而灣仔告士打道位於灣仔核心地帶，集結多幢指標商廈，附近亦設有多條巴士路綫、過境巴士及渡海小輪，距離港鐵灣仔站出口步程約4分鐘，而徒步至最新開通的港鐵會展站亦只需8分鐘，更可貫通沙中綫，交通配套完善，料今次項目招租反應將會見理想。

事實上，灣仔區集結不少商廈，地舖甚為矜罕，而市場新近承租位於莊士敦道138號地下1及2號舖，面積約1,502平方呎，獲經營餐飲業租客以月租約38萬元承租，平均呎租約253元。上述舖位連同3及4號舖，合共面積約2,831平方呎，原由連鎖運動用品品牌自2016年起租用，當時月租約63萬元，平均呎租約222元。業主於2022年1月以約2.75億元購入舖位，鑑於疫情反覆便將舖位分拆出租，以迎合更多不同類別租戶。

(經濟日報)

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