The
Global Cities Survey, published by Savills PLC, reported last week that
Hong Kong residential property is now the most expensive in the world.

In
fact, based on the property price index contained in the survey,
residential property in Hong Kong is 55 percent more expensive than
property in London.

The report compared four cities; Hong Kong, New York, London and Moscow.

Property
in Moscow emerged as being 7.4 percent more expensive than property in
London, whereas property in New York was 15 percent cheaper than in the
U.K. capital.

The report also noted that the price of a typical
home of purchased by a company chief executive in Hong Kong has risen by
148 percent over the past five years. Over the same period, this figure
in Moscow rose by 110 percent, London by 47 percent and in New York it
fell by 7 percent.

The Head of Savills Research, Yolande Barnes,
commented; “By looking at a basket of properties by occupier type we
gain insights into the fluctuating costs of housing – a vital component
cost of doing business in a given location.”

Interestingly,
although the cost of buying a new property when relocating has continued
to rise, the cost of rental property has remained constant in all four
of the capital cities surveyed.

Hong Kong is currently
experiencing a housing shortage, with a lack of supply and high demand
leading to sharp increases in property prices.

In
an attempt to tackle rising prices, in November last year, the Hong
Kong Government introduced a number of measures such as applying stamp
duty of up to 15 percent to property transactions and increasing the
minimum down-payments for mortgages.

To address the housing
shortage, Hong Kong Government chief executive Donald Tsang promised to
release more land for the development of low cost housing and added that
the government should supply land to support the construction of 20,000
new apartments per year, although he said the figure was “not a fixed
target.”

Although these measures were trumpeted as some of the
strongest ever, property prices in Hong Kong have remained resilient
since their introduction.

As interest rates in Hong Kong continue
at near zero levels and with increased demand from investors in
mainland China, it would seem that property prices in Hong Kong will not
fall anytime soon.

More on this article… http://blog.oceanvillasgroup.com/hong-kong-property-most-expensive-in-the-world/

Rebecca Smith
Ocean Villas Group – http://www.oceanvillasgroup.com