UBS Group's real estate analyst in Hong Kong, Leung Chin Ka, said that the market currently expects a 200 basis point interest rate cut in the United States within the next 12 months, and Hong Kong banks may not follow suit with the most favorable interest rates until the end of this year or early next year.

Leung Chin Ka believes that the biggest hidden worry in the property market would be the rise in unemployment in Hong Kong. However, rental prices are a true reflection of the market demand for residences, as long as residential rental prices continue to rise, it indicates that the Hong Kong property market is still healthy.

Leung also has a bearish view on the retail and office sectors, believing that the former faces structural challenges, namely the lower-than-expected number of Hong Kong residents traveling abroad and the per capita consumption in Mainland China. As for the latter, there will be approximately 10% new office supply in the next few years, and the vacancy rate for Grade A offices in Central may reach high double digits to 20%, it is expected to wait for the new office supply in West Kowloon before the rent of Central offices can be reduced further and the vacancy rate can be lowered.

UBS Group's Greater China real estate investment research director, Lam Chun Hung, pointed out that the main challenges faced by the Mainland China real estate market are high pricing and excessive inventory. He believes that current Mainland Chinese companies mainly rely on price cuts for promotion and use existing assets as collateral. He mentioned that the data to be monitored in the future are the progress of local government land acquisition and storage, rental yields, and mortgage rates.