Mainland Chinese home buyers in Hong Kong dropped to 5.7% in 3Q

Here's how each segment fared.

Citing the data compiled by Centaline, Barclays said the percentage of mainland Chinese among total buyers in the overall housing market fell from 6.3% in 2Q to 5.7% in 3Q. 

Here's more:

By segment, both primary and secondary markets saw a drop in mainlanders’ buying interest. Buying interest in the primary market fell from 14.7% to 11.2% in 3Q, while that in the secondary market dropped from 4.9% to 4.8%.

By value, mainland Chinese interest increased among transactions above HK$12mn, as recent primary launches provide various stamp duty rebates and the number of local buyers in the high-end market decreased in 3Q.

In the primary high-end market, the percentage of mainland buyers increased from 18.3% in 2Q to 29.5% in 3Q, while that in the secondary luxury market also increased to 9.9% in 3Q from 5.8% in 2Q. Comparably, for transactions below HK$12mn, the percentage of mainland Chinese buyers fell slightly from 5.9% in 2Q to 5.2% in 3Q, as a result of a growing number of local buyers in the mass market.

With developers’ recent aggressive pricing strategies, Centaline expects more local buyers to return and the proportion of mainland buyers to drop to 20% in the luxury primary market and 10% in the overall primary market.