Hong Kong's real estate market marks two years of comprehensive "cooling off": record high transactions, officially emerging from the trough

On February 28, 2024, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government officially announced the complete revocation of all residential property demand management measures, commonly known as "withdrawal of taxes", and the cancellation of multiple restrictions such as additional stamp duty, buyer stamp duty, and new residential stamp duty, empowering the real estate market. This measure has also become a key turning point for the recovery of the Hong Kong real estate market. After two years of policy transmission and market digestion, the Hong Kong real estate market will finally experience a comprehensive recovery in 2025, completely emerging from the trough and returning to the growth track. ​

According to the annual statistics released by the Land Registry of the Hong Kong SAR Government for the year 2025, the total number of registered building purchase and sale contracts reached 80702, setting a record high in nearly four years and achieving a significant year-on-year increase of 18.7%. Compared with 2023, the growth rate reached 39.1%, which intuitively reflects the significant increase in market transaction activity. At the same time, the total transaction value also performed outstandingly, reaching HKD 614.277 billion for the whole year, a year-on-year increase of 15%, and a growth of 28.5% compared to 2023. The trend of both volume and price rising clearly highlights the solid strength of the real estate recovery. ​

In terms of segmentation, residential property, as the core sector of the real estate market, has shown particularly outstanding recovery performance. In 2025, there were a total of 62832 residential property transactions registered in Hong Kong, with a total value of HKD 519.83 billion, an increase of 18.3% and 14.4% respectively year-on-year, becoming the core driving force behind the overall rise in the real estate market. From a monthly performance perspective, the overall number of building purchase and sale contracts reached 8999 in December 2025, with a year-on-year increase of 63.3%. The strong performance at the end of the year marked a successful end to the recovery of the real estate market for the whole year and also indicated a sustained rebound in market confidence. ​

The comprehensive recovery and recovery of the Hong Kong real estate market by 2025 is due to the synergistic efforts of multiple positive factors. In addition to the continuous empowerment of the comprehensive "de spicy" policy, the appreciation of the RMB has enhanced the purchasing power of mainland buyers, allowing the "Beishui" to continue flowing into the Hong Kong real estate market. By 2025, the total amount of Hong Kong residential properties purchased by mainland buyers reached a historical high of HKD 138 billion, becoming an important support for the recovery of the real estate market. At the same time, the decrease in mortgage interest rates and the continuous increase in rent have driven an increase in demand for "subletting to buying", coupled with the wealth effect brought by the improvement of the stock market. Many investors have invested their funds in the real estate market, further activating market vitality. ​

It is worth noting that although the Hong Kong real estate market will experience a significant warming in 2025, the market performance will still remain rational and orderly. The government's previous policy of increasing stamp duty on luxury housing transactions has not had a significant impact on market recovery. In the first two months of 2026, there were 48 luxury housing transactions worth over HKD 100 million, far exceeding the 14 transactions in the first quarter of 2025. Luxury housing transactions still serve as the "locomotive" of market growth. The industry generally believes that, supported by multiple factors such as low interest rates and rigid demand brought about by talent input plans, the Hong Kong real estate market is expected to continue its recovery momentum and lay a solid foundation for entering an upward cycle.