{"id":5024168,"date":"2019-07-04T10:40:31","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T09:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.buyassociation.co.uk\/?p=5024168"},"modified":"2023-10-10T16:05:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T15:05:03","slug":"hong-kong-protests-push-more-property-investors-to-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/2019\/07\/04\/hong-kong-protests-push-more-property-investors-to-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong protests and trade wars push\u00a0more property investors to\u00a0safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exorbitant property prices in Hong Kong have led many to look elsewhere for their property investments and even emigrate, and this trend could increase as people fear the impact of the extradition bill if it gets passed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0new\u00a0extradition bill, which\u00a0would\u00a0impact\u00a0Hong Kong residents\u00a0and foreign and Chinese nationals travelling through\u00a0Hong Kong, has caused concern\u00a0among many.\u00a0The bill would allow extraditions of suspects to\u00a0go on\u00a0trial\u00a0in China.\u00a0Protests in Hong Kong\u00a0have\u00a0forced the initial legislative debate to be put on pause. It\u2019s unclear whether the bill will be passed, according to an article by\u00a0Reuters.<\/p>\n

Many believe the extradition law would threaten the rule of law that supports Hong Kong\u2019s global financial status, and it could have a damaging impact on the economy. As a result, more residents might move abroad and many investors, especially high net-worth figures, are interested in securing and diversifying assets overseas.<\/p>\n

James Dempsey, director of BuyAssociation\u2019s Hong Kong office, stated: \u201cWe have witnessed a significant increase in enquiries from Hong Kong-based institutions and the young middle class, alongside permanent resident expatriates exploring investment into the traditionally stable jurisdictions such as the UK. The attractiveness of the UK market is further enhanced by a considerably weaker Pound against the US Dollar and associated pegged currencies like the Hong Kong Dollar.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hong Kong investors look to back assets abroad<\/h4>\n

The Financial Times<\/em> recently analysed the different reasons why Hong Kong nationals and residents are increasingly investing overseas. Hong Kong\u2019s housing shortage and skyrocketing property prices<\/a> have caused many to look elsewhere for property. Some residents even rent in the city centre and buy property abroad.<\/p>\n

According to social policy group Demographia, Hong Kong has been home to the world\u2019s least affordable property market for the last nine years. Additionally, the City Index Centaline revealed residential property prices have increased there by more than 200% across the past 10 years, causing many buyers to be priced out<\/a>.\u00a0Non-residents buying property in Hong Kong\u00a0are\u00a0even\u00a0faced with stamp duty rates between 15% and 30%\u00a0of the property value purchase.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0government is trying to cool down the\u00a0burning\u00a0hot\u00a0property market\u00a0as the city is at risk of facing a housing bubble. Banking group UBS revealed in its Global Real Estate Bubble Index for 2018 that Hong Kong\u00a0had\u00a0the world\u2019s most overvalued housing market, making it an unappealing city for property investors to buy in.<\/p>\n

North of England sees interest from\u00a0Hong Kong and Chinese\u00a0investors<\/h4>\n

Many Hong Kong and Chinese investors are looking to secure property in the UK, which has a track record of being a safe market to invest in. In early 2018, the Chinese government restricted outward investments, but regulations have been relaxed and are making it easier for\u00a0Chinese buyers<\/a>\u00a0to invest\u00a0back\u00a0in the UK.<\/p>\n

London was once the top international property investment choice, especially for overseas buyers, but as the capital has become low yielding and house price growth is stalling, investors have begun to look elsewhere.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0a recent article by\u00a0South China Morning Post<\/em>, many tourists from Hong Kong and China\u00a0arrive in London and then visit\u00a0Manchester<\/a> and Glasgow. And a large number of them aren\u2019t just tourists but investors looking for property. As people are increasingly leaving London because of high prices, both homeowners and property investors are looking to areas such as north<\/a> and the Midlands for more affordable house prices and markets with room for further growth.<\/p>\n

Manchester\u00a0remains\u00a0an\u00a0attractive\u00a0city to invest in<\/h4>\n

Manchester has benefited the most from people leaving London in search of a better value property market, as well as quality of life. Manchester has the UK\u2019s fastest growing economy<\/a> and even saw its population rise by more than 50% between 2001 and 2011. With this influx of inhabitants, there has been plenty of room for expansion in the housing market as demand remains high.<\/p>\n

Manchester Airport has\u00a0had\u00a0direct\u00a0flights to and from Beijing and Hong Kong<\/a>\u00a0for some time now.\u00a0Connecting the Northern Powerhouse to\u00a0Asia\u00a0has\u00a0brought\u00a0a\u00a0surge of interest in\u00a0Manchester\u2019s property market<\/a>\u00a0from Chinese and Hong Kong investors. These direct flights have\u00a0made it easier for\u00a0potential students, tourists and investors<\/a>\u00a0to reach the city, opening up Manchester for further growth and investment.<\/p>\n

With this connectivity,\u00a0Hong Kong nationals and residents<\/a> are expected to continue buying properties in the north-west of England to secure assets in a safer market with more affordable entry prices. With lucrative yields and house prices that are expected to strengthen alongside impressive levels of local investment<\/a>, Manchester is likely to continue to be an enticing option for Hong Kong investors, especially as the political climate remains unsettled in the territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exorbitant property prices in Hong Kong have led many to look elsewhere for their property investments and even emigrate, and this trend could increase as people fear the impact of the extradition bill if it gets passed. The\u00a0new\u00a0extradition bill, which\u00a0would\u00a0impact\u00a0Hong Kong residents\u00a0and foreign and Chinese nationals travelling through\u00a0Hong Kong, has caused concern\u00a0among many.\u00a0The bill would… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1982,"featured_media":5024170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,141,59],"tags":[277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1982"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5024168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6095990,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024168\/revisions\/6095990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5024170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5024168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5024168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5024168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}