Residential projects dominated construction works in Q2

Its value rose by 8.1% to $18.5b.

The value of residential building projects maintained its heated uptrend after rising 8.1% YoY to $18.5b in Q2 as Hong Kong stepped up its construction efforts to respond to its chronic housing woes, according to the provisional results of the Quarterly Survey of Construction Output from the Census and Statistics Department.

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Building activities did not let up as market take-up remained robust with property sales ballooning 55% YoY to 8.466 deals in July even as the government unveiled a number of initiatives to cool the housing market.

On the other hand, the value of construction works for transport projects crashed 30.2% to $9.1b in Q2. However, a number of high-ticket infrastructure projects including a USD18b proposal for a third runway and terminal for the Hong Kong International Airport, a USD8.4b Shatin-Central Link connecting MTR’s East Rail and West Rail Lines to Admiralty on Hong Kong Island; a $4.6b Central-Wan Chai Bypass; a USD2.1b metro line running along the western and southern costs of Hong Kong Island and a USD1.9b tunnel linking Eastern Harbour Crossing to Lam Tin, may just provide the necessary boost for the sector.

Overall, the total gross value of construction works performed by main contractors fell 1.6% to $61.5b in Q2. Construction works at private sector sites outpaced those at public sector spaces at $19.7b and $19.5b respectively.