HK's Flat Supply to Drop

Home>>Business

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 01, 2003

HK's Flat Supply to Drop

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

The supply of flats in Hong Kong will fall in the next three years as the number of units being built has continued to drop since 1998, said Hong Kong's Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen on Thursday.

Suen said there were only 8,100 units under construction in the first six months of this year. As it takes about three years to complete a flat, he said it is natural that the number of flats to be completed in the next few years will fall.

The vacancy rate of flats in Hong Kong now stands at a record high of 6.8 percent, with about 74,000 flats vacant, 20,000 more than normal levels.

Commenting on the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation's (KCRC) proposal to return to the government the development rights of flats along its lines, Suen said the government will consider the proposal.

The housing secretary said the main problem facing the property market is the lack of confidence of buyers. The government is now considering measures to boost the market and will release them in two or three months, he said.

Suen said Hong Kong is now at the end of the tunnel and he is cautiously optimistic on the future of the property market.

Questions?Comments? Click here

HK Traces SARS Outbreak in Housing Complex to Sewage System

HK's Senior Banker Confident in Govt's Housing Policy

HK Housing Authority Endorses Adjustments of HOS Program

Taiwan Ties Mar Japan's China Interests: News Analysis ( 36 Messages)

Shortage of Electric Power, an Ordeal for China's Economy ( 4 Messages)

Using "E-mail" Concerns Chinese Purification & National Dignity? ( 22 Messages)

US, China Co-operate to Fight Taiwan Referendum Plan ( 3 Messages)

60 Chinese Senior Officials to Be Trained in Harvard University ( 3 Messages)