Hong Kong was named the least affordable housing market for the eighth year in a study that put Sydney in the No. 2 slot and Vancouver as No. 3. The median price of a home in Hong Kong is 19.4 times the median annual pre-tax household income, up from 18.1 times in the previous study by Demographia, an urban planning policy consultancy. Cooling measures have failed to tame Hong Kong’s housing, with prices more than double the 1997 levels preceding a crash that obliterated two-thirds of value. Academic research indicates that the city’s home prices have been driven higher by rules restricting land use, Demographia said. The study took in 293 metropolitan housing markets across nine countries, including Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. The data came from the third quarter of last year.
HK market rally makes best week since 2015
Hong Kong’s market rally is benefiting developers to drugmakers, which rushed to sell stock in the biggest week for follow-on equity offerings in more than two years. Companies listed in the city priced a combined USD2.5 billion of such share sales last week, making it the busiest week since June 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The flood of new equity came as the benchmark Hang Seng Index soared past 32,000 points, breaking a previous all-time high set a decade ago, while a gauge of Chinese companies listed in the city is on its longest-ever winning streak. More deals are coming. Sinopec Oilfield Service Corp. has appointed investment banks to arrange a sale of H shares worth about $640 million based on Friday’s closing price, according to a Dec. 18 exchange filing. China Dongxiang (Group) Co., which sells Kappa sportswear products in China, announced on Sunday a $21 million stock placement to its executives.
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