When K.Y. Kwan bought a house in Zhangmutou Township of South
China's Guangdong Province in 1999, it was seen as an unusual and
daring move.
A lot of his friends thought the newspaper editor, now in his
40s, was crazy. Why would anyone buy a home in the small town, they
asked.
But time has proven Kwan's decision.
Dubbed "mini-Hong Kong", Zhangmutou is now home to hundreds of
Hongkongers and its housing prices have more than doubled since
Kwan bought there.
"It's a good deal in terms of both living and investment," said
Kwan, adding he would like to buy a second property in the town if
he has enough money in the future.
Like Kwan, an increasing number of Hongkongers have purchased
properties on the mainland in recent years. And the trend is set to
continue, thanks to economic integration between the mainland and
Hong Kong and a rising yuan, according to property agents.
Hongkongers bought as many as 23,600 properties on the mainland
last year. The number for the first time surpassed that of new
house deals in Hong Kong, according to Land Power, a Hong Kong real
estate agency.
"It clearly reflects the attraction of the mainland," said Land
Power Chairman Michael Choi.
Against the backdrop of closer economic ties between the two
economies, more and more Hongkongers are now working and living on
the mainland. They tend to buy homes where prices are less than
one-third of those in Hong Kong.
This group of buyers accounted for more than 40 percent of
mainland property purchasers in 2006, a Land Power survey
found.
And nearly 30 percent of the Hong Kong buyers bought property as
investments.
Analysts generally believed the number of mainland properties
snapped up by Hongkongers would rise in 2007.
Land Power estimated Hongkongers would buy up to 26,100 mainland
properties this year, worth around 17.3 billion yuan, compared to
14.7 billion yuan in 2006.
New mainland property purchases by Hongkongers would increase 11
percent this year to reach 19,230, another property agency
Centaline (China) said.
"We see a combination of conducive factors to support that
projection," said K.K. Lai, director of Centaline (China), citing
Hong Kong's economic upswing and smooth progress of infrastructure
projects between Guangdong and Hong Kong.
Further appreciation of the renminbi will also bolster
Hongkongers' passion for mainland properties.
(China Daily February 16, 2007)