Construction Starts For New Flats Double In 2020

New government figures released on Friday show a sharp surge in the construction of new private flats.

The Transport and Housing Bureau reported that developers have started building 8,100 flats in the first half of the year – doubling the corresponding figure from 2019.

While they got off to a slow start, with just 900 starts in the first quarter, this figure jumped to 7,200 between April and July.

The number of new flats completed during the first six months of 2020 also doubled, to 11,400.

Some 3,700 new apartments were completed in the first quarter, and 7,600 followed in the second quarter of the year.

An adjunct professor from Hong Kong University's real estate department, David Faulkner, said the increased pace in construction shows that developers, and the market at large, are optimistic about the future outlook of the property market.

“We’ve also got to get over the current problem,” he said. “But I think most people think that in a couple of years’ time things will be better, and that will be a good time to be bringing new supply on.”

Meantime, home prices in Hong Kong continued to rise in June, up 0.1 percent from May. Rent levels also rose for the first time in nine months, increasing by an average of 0.5 percent.