Hong Kong’s home prices slip towards 9-year low as Trump tariffs spook buyers

Prices in the secondary market declined 0.49 per cent last month, according to an index published by the Rating and Valuation Department on Monday, following a 0.56 per cent setback in February. The index has retreated a cumulative 1.7 per cent for the quarter to the level last seen in July 2016.

Since the city’s housing market peaked in September 2021, prices of lived-in homes have slumped by 28.6 per cent as social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic sent the local economy into a recession. US President Donald Trump delivered his tariff blows on April 2, after threatening to do so since his inauguration in January.

“Potential buyers took a wait-and-see approach,” said Eddie Kwok, executive director, valuation and advisory services, at CBRE Hong Kong. Home prices were likely to dip further in the coming months, with the US and China still locked in worsening trade tensions, he added.

This month, second-hand home prices were likely to drop 0.8 per cent following volatility in stock trading in Hong Kong and major bourses globally, said Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties.

“If the US can cut interest rates as early as May or June, it will provide some support to the property market,” he said. “It is hoped that the decline in home prices in May will narrow and remain stable. However, in the second quarter, home prices are expected to fall by about 1.3 per cent, which will mean a 3 per cent fall in the first half of the year.”

Hong Kong’s interest rates move in lockstep with those in the US to keep the local currency’s peg to the US dollar.