Jones Lang LaSalle pointed out that the provisional Property Valuation Department's Private Residential Property Price Index showed that the overall second-hand housing prices have fallen back to the level of 2016. Recently launched new projects have experienced even more significant price drops, with prices more than 10% lower than similar projects in 2015, further suppressing prices of second-hand properties.

The overall index for second-hand housing prices has fallen back to the level of 2016, recording 305.9 points in May, similar to 306.7 in November 2016. Prices for new properties have fallen even further. As of May, the average price per square foot for a Class A unit (unit area smaller than 431 square feet) in Yau Ma Tei is 10.6% lower than in 2015, dropping from HKD 22,768 to HKD 20,346. During the same period, the average price per square foot for Class A units in Kennedy Town also dropped 6% from HKD 23,424 to HKD 22,022.

Lee Yuen Fung, Senior Director of Project Strategy and Consulting Division at Jones Lang LaSalle, said that the market needs more policies that support demand to restore supply-demand balance and avoid a vicious cycle of falling prices, where buyers delay purchasing in anticipation of continuously declining prices, which in turn lead to price drops.

In addition, he pointed out that the government has already taken action, including the recently announced countercyclical macro-prudential measures for property mortgage loans; however, banks remain cautious in approving mortgages. Although there is still demand for homeownership from users, many are unable to enter the market due to mortgage approval difficulties, affecting residential transactions.