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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)