Mainland Chinese buyers to continue driving Hong Kong housing demand in 2025, analysts say

They were involved in 11,638 primary and secondary property transactions in 2024, an increase of 90 per cent from a year earlier, according to figures from Centaline Property Agency. The value of those deals jumped 67 per cent to HK$130.5 billion (US$16.7 billion). Both measures were record highs.

The previous peak time for mainlanders buying properties in Hong Kong was 2010, with 10,079 transactions recorded, but that only accounted for about 9 per cent of the total number of transactions. In contrast, last year’s volume amounted to 24 per cent of the deals.

Hong Kong withdrew the Buyer’s Stamp Duty that was imposed on non-permanent residents in February 2023, as well as ending the New Residential Stamp Duty for second-time purchasers. Homeowners were also given a reprieve from having to pay the Special Stamp Duty if they sold within two years. It also relaxed the loan-to-value ratio to facilitate mortgage payments for homebuyers during the interest rate hike cycle.

“The scrapping of property curbs, coupled with property prices dropping by more than 20 per cent from the peak, and the government’s introduction of a series of policies to ‘snatch talent’ and optimise immigration, have further boosted the desire of mainlanders to purchase properties in Hong Kong,” said Louis Chan Wing-kit, CEO of Centaline Property Agency.