Expats in Hong Kong say property measures discriminate against them

Disgruntled expatriates living and working in Hong Kong believe they have become collateral victims of government measures aimed at curbing demand for property from mainland buyers.

"It has basically kicked us off the property ladder," said Chris Lane. "They are discriminating against all the people who live and work here, and want to buy their own home and don't want to rent," said Lane, a California-born property agent who specialises in selling overseas properties to Hongkongers.

He is a keen property investor himself. He and his wife, Karen, have a two-year-old daughter, Bailyanna, and have been looking for bigger space in the city.

An American hedge fund manager said: "It seems they are following the Singapore model, which is not a good model." The fund manager owns a property he is worried that he cannot sell because he can't get as attractive a mortgage on his next purchase.

"It seems like such a bad policy when you're trying to attract wealth and wealthy people to live and bank in your city. This is a slap in the face," he said.

Some investors see it as outright discrimination, something Hong Kong has not resorted to in the past.