Stronger footing: A farmer plants banana trees in front of high-rise apartments in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s property companies are probably better positioned than in the past to weather a prime increase, even if it does cool housing prices. — Reuters
HONG KONG: Hong Kong property companies such as Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd and CK Asset Holdings Ltd are bracing for the first increase in the city’s prime rate in more than a decade. A higher prime rate, which sets the upper limits on mortgages, could damp surging housing prices in the world’s least-affordable real estate market.
“Whenever a prime rate hike happens, it will cause the property market to rethink the sanity of paying HK$10mil (US$1.3mil) for 200-sq-ft apartments,” said CLSA Ltd analyst Nicole Wong.
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