NewWorld Development Company Limited
EXECUTIVE VICE-CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
18
At NewWorld,
we are all artisans!
We are devoted
to expand one’s
imagination through
our persistence on
delivering bespoke
craftsmanship
manifested by
originality.
HONG KONG PROPERTY
DEVELOPMENT
In 2014, the enormous demand for
self-occupied flats, along with the
HKSAR government’s proposed
relaxation of the double ad valorem
stamp duty for home upgraders,
c o n t r i b u t e d p o s i t i v e l y t o t h e
sales performance of Hong Kong
residential properties. The total
transaction amount of first-hand sales
and purchases of private residential
units in 2014 represented an all-time
record high for the past 19 years
since 1996. Stepping into 2015, the
sound sales momentum continued,
where premium projects at prime
locations have been highly sought
after by home buyers. Most property
developers were eager to provide
various concessionary offers or adopt
a close-to-market pricing strategy to
expedite sales, boosting the market
sentiment of home purchases.
To counteract the downside risk
arising from excessive pace of
development of the residential
property market and to safeguard
the stability of the banking system,
on 27 February 2015, the Hong
Kong Monetary Authority announced
the seventh round of measures on
risk control to the property market,
including lowering the maximum
loan-to-value ratio for self-use
residential properties valued below
HK$7.0 million, the maximum debt-
servicing ratio for borrowers acquiring
a second residential property for self-
use and the maximum debt-servicing
ratio for mortgage loans of all types
