According to the latest data from CENTURY 21, in the first half of this year, the proportion of Mandarin-speaking buyers in the overall private residential market has risen to over 20%, involving an amount of 70.5 billion yuan, both of which have reached new highs. New emerging areas such as Qidong and Wong Chuk Hang Station have replaced previous mainland hotspots such as Kowloon Station.

CENTURY 21 pointed out that in the first six months of this year, a total of 6,117 transactions were recorded by Mandarin-speaking buyers, which is nearly a 70% increase from the same period last year, involving a total amount of 70.54 billion yuan, which has increased by 42% year-on-year. Both the number of transactions and the amount have reached record highs since 1995. The proportion of Mandarin-speaking buyers in Hong Kong's property market has now reached the highest point in history at 25%, and the total amount of income accounts for 30.9%.

In the first half of this year, the inflow of funds into the first-hand property market reached 109.7 billion yuan, of which nearly 40% or 43.4 billion yuan were from Mandarin-speaking buyers, the highest proportion in history. In the first half of this year, a total of 8,974 transactions were recorded in the new market, and Mandarin-speaking buyers accounted for 3,027 of them. 84% of them appeared after the cooling measures were withdrawn.

This year, mainland buyers mainly focus on entering the market through small and medium-sized properties. In the first half of the year, the first and second-hand units purchased by Mandarin-speaking buyers, of which 3,970 units were priced at 10 million yuan or below, accounting for 65%, while luxury properties priced above 50 million yuan accounted for 106 units. In the first half of the year, the top 10 new developments with the most Mandarin-speaking buyers include Sun Hung Kai's (01113.HK) Wong Chuk Hang Blue Coast, with 228 transactions recorded; followed by Langham Place in Ho Man Tin and Vibe Centro in Kai Tak Runway Area, with 227 and 180 transactions respectively. The Wharf Group's (00083.HK) Victoria Dockside and Henderson Land's projects at Cheung Sha Wan Victoria Harbour have a higher proportion of Mandarin-speaking buyers, reaching 72.4%. Among the 181 transactions, 131 belong to this category, while Hong Kong residents account for less than 30%. New World Development's (00016.HK) luxury property, Mount Regency Sea, in Kai Tak Runway Area, also has a half of Mandarin-speaking buyers. (VC/K)

~