Hong Kong’s Government has lifted curbs on property deals after home prices fell to a seven-year low, adding to the Chinese territory’s woes.
All curbs, such as extra taxes, imposed earlier to cool the property market would be lifted with immediate effect. Home prices have fallen for nine consecutive months and share prices have languished as a tightening of freedoms in the former British colony has rattled investors.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s tourism has not fully rebounded after it reopened to foreign travellers following the COVID-19 pandemic. China’s slowing economy has also impacted Hong Kong’s recovery.The Government lifted a 15 per cent stamp duty imposed on non-permanent residents who buy property in Hong Kong and a 15 per cent stamp duty charged on purchases of a second property. Homeowners also no longer must pay a separate duty on sales of homes purchased less than two years before.
Last year, the city reduced by half taxes charged on home purchases by non-permanent resident homebuyers and those buying additional properties. Shares of property developers in Hong Kong jumped after the scrapping of cooling measures was announced.As an additional tourist attraction, the city will revamp its light show on scenic Victoria Harbour and stage monthly pyrotechnic and drone shows over the waterfront. Another 100 million Hong Kong dollars (USD 12.8 million) will go to promoting big events in the city, highlighting activities like hiking and cycling and creating a new tourism brand to “soft-sell” Hong Kong, he said.
The city also will collaborate with mainland Chinese cities to boost tourism in the Greater Bay Area surrounding Hong Kong. Mainland Chinese tourists are the majority of visitors to Hong Kong. Over the Lunar New Year holidays, Hong Kong recorded nearly 1.44 million visitors to the city, nearly 90 per cent of them from the mainland.
