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发帖数: 16209 | 1 Hong Kong Adds Tax, Intensifies Housing Bubble Fight
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong intensified a yearlong battle to curb
surging home prices with additional taxes and higher down payments a day
after the International Monetary Fund warned that asset inflation may derail
the city’s economy.
Homes sold within six months of purchase will incur a 15 percent stamp duty
from today, Financial Secretary John Tsang said in a briefing yesterday.
Down payments for homes costing HK$12 million ($1.5 million) or more will
rise to 50 percent, from 40 percent. A stock gauge of developers in Hong
Kong fell for the eighth day in nine ahead of the announcements.
Hong Kong Said to Plan New Property Curbs
“The measures will likely have the biggest and most lasting impact on
property prices seen to date,” Donna Kwok, a Hong Kong-based economist at
HSBC Holdings Plc, said in a report. “Hong Kong has jumped onto the band
wagon of Asian central banks and is erecting its own defenses to fend off
the flood” of capital from the U.S. easing.
Governments from South Korea to Brazil are seeking to stem fund inflows into
their higher-yielding markets after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s expanded
monetary stimulus. Hong Kong is acting after home prices rose more than 50
percent since the beginning of 2009. The island’s currency peg to the
dollar prevents its de-facto central bank from raising interest rates.
Curbing Threats
“The unusual surge in flat prices has attracted speculators; this coupled
with quantitative easing measures have distorted the market expectation
regarding inflation and asset prices,” Tsang said. “The government is
resolute in maintaining economic stability and curbing any threat to people
’s livelihoods.”
Policy makers in Singapore share Tsang’s concern that housing price gains
may make homes unaffordable to locals. In August, Singapore tightened
mortgages and levied a stamp duty on all sales of residential units and land
within three years of the purchase date.
The Hang Seng Property Index, which tracks the city’s seven-biggest
builders, fell 1.3 percent yesterday to the lowest since Oct. 29. It has
declined 7.6 percent since this year’s peak on Nov. 8. It ended the week 4.
1 percent lower, its biggest weekly drop since the five days ended May 7.
Stamp Duty
Properties resold within 6 months to 12 months will incur a 10 percent stamp
duty, while those resold from 12 months to 24 months will be charged 5
percent, Tsang said yesterday. The stamp duty will be split between buyers
and sellers, he said.
Down payments for homes costing between HK$8 million and HK$12 million will
be increased to 40 percent from 30 percent, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Chief Executive Norman Chan said yesterday. The maximum loan to value for
non-owner occupied residential properties will be lowered to 50 percent,
Chan said.
‘Deter Speculation’
The additional stamp duty “is quite substantial and is a way to deter
speculation,” said Benedict Ma, Hong Kong-based associate director of
research at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., the world’s biggest real-estate
services firm. “Investors, especially those in the luxury market, will have
to reassess whether this is really the right time to get into the market.”
Government-backed Hong Kong Mortgage Corp. will introduce a cap of HK$6.8
million on the value of properties it covers, it said in a statement.
The new measures would “impact on market sentiment, leading to a fall in
home sales volume,” said David Ng, a Hong Kong-based property analyst at
Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. “Home prices won’t see a decline immediately
as speculators could still keep their stocks in the low interest rate
environment.”
The IMF said in a report this week Hong Kong’s accelerating asset inflation
risks causing a bust that leads to deflation and an extended economic “
downturn,” and urged further measures to rein in prices. The city has
raised down-payment ratios and boosted land supply to curb prices, which
surpassed a 1997 peak on the back of record-low mortgage rates and an influx
of mainland Chinese buyers.
Hong Kong Measures
In April, Hong Kong raised the tax on homes selling for more than HK$20
million to 4.25 percent from 3.75 percent.
The government announced Aug. 13 it’s tightening lending rules on luxury
and investment properties and increasing land supply to curb prices. Down
payments for apartments costing HK$12 million or more and for investment
properties were raised to 40 percent, from 30 percent.
Home prices have since risen 5 percent, according to Centaline Property
Agency Ltd., the city’s biggest privately held real-estate brokerage.
Cooling measures have come “late,” said Justin Chiu, executive director at
Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., controlled by Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-
shing. The measures target short- term speculation, which was less than 5
percent of total home sales, Chiu said yesterday.
Supply Boost
Chief Executive Donald Tsang said in his Oct. 13 policy address the
government will stop offering residency to foreigners who buy property in
the city.
South Korea revived a tax on foreigners investing in its bonds this week;
Thailand is ending foreigners’ 15 percent tax exemption on income from
domestic bonds, while Brazil tripled a tax on purchases of local fixed-
income assets by overseas investors.
Hong Kong’s government also is cracking down on marketing tactics it has
described as deceptive. It plans to restrict common features, including
clubhouses, developers claim as part of apartments, to 10 percent of gross
floor area from April 2011.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kelvin Wong in Hong Kong at kwong40@
bloomberg.net | g**********7
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