Home foreclosures in Hong Kong have risen for two quarters in a row and are expected to increase again in the coming period, Centaline Property said, as property transactions experience an uptick.
For the third quarter, 189 foreclosures of private residential properties – those seized by banks due to missed mortgage payments – were recorded, up 11.2 per cent from 170 in the second quarter, Centaline said on Tuesday. The third quarter’s foreclosure tally was the second-highest in the past eight quarters, it said. Data from the property agency showed that 82 of the foreclosed homes were newly added and 63 were sold or retrieved by banks.
Foreclosures that were valued at HK$10 million (US$1.29 million) or below rose 45 per cent, or 66 units, as sales could not catch up with the additions, resulting in the number of units increasing by as much as 21 per cent.
More foreclosure sales were seen in the HK$10 million to HK$20 million and above categories, Centaline said. It said 16 were newly added and 21 were sold, meaning stocks for the category dropped 15 per cent.
For the 82 newly added foreclosures, 43 were in the New Territories, 26 in Kowloon and 13 on Hong Kong Island.
