Why Hong Kong's crazy home buying can't be stopped

Demand for new homes soared 48%.

Bloomberg reported that demand for new homes soared 48 percent in January over December, compared with a 76 percent decline in the same period last year, according to data from the government and residential property agency Midland Realty.

"A batch of 188 units at China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd.’s new complex at Hong Kong’s old airport site, One Kai Tak, priced as much as 41 percent higher than a first lot five months ago, sold out in one day in mid-January. Even in the lackluster secondary market, home prices are up 1.7 percent since November, according to a Centaline Property Agency gauge that’s the only price index tracking Hong Kong’s residential properties," it said in a report.