“Hong Kong’s economy only grew 0.6% in the second quarter from a year ago, the weakest rate in a decade. Escalating protests have made the outlook even more uncertain,” Wong said.
In addition, a weakening yuan could also crimp the buying power of mainland Chinese, who are the major buyers of Hong Kong properties. Several developers have postponed sales of luxury home projects this month.
“Developers are turning conservative about the market’s outlook. So they decided to pause and watch,” Wong said.
In the report, real estate agency Midland shared that sales of new homes have plunged 60% in the past three months, compared with the first quarter, partly due to lack of project launches.
Meanwhile, the report also mentioned that developers Sun Hung Kai Properties (SUHJF) has lost HK$115 billion ($14.7 billion) in market value since its peak in April. That was equivalent to nearly one third of its market value back then.