Property agents stage huge street protest

Demand government property curbs be lifted.

Thousands of real estate agents and industry workers marched in Hong Kong yesterday, urging the government to remove tough regulations meant to control home prices in the world’s most expensive housing market. Organizes said over 20,000 people took part in the demonstration while police placed the number at 5,000.

The protesters marched through Causeway Bay shopping district chanting slogans before they assembling at the government headquarters at the east of the central business district.

“Stop it, stop it right now,” said Denys Kwan, a protest organizer and former president of the Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents Ltd. “It’s affecting everybody, not just the agents, it’s affecting the economy.”

Property transactions in Hong Kong sank to a 20-year low in the second quarter due to a doubling of stamp duties on buyers and sellers, and harsh regulations on marketing material of new apartments. The total number of property deals fell 42% to 14,291 in the second quarter from the previous three months, the lowest level since 1991.

One property company estimates that about a third of Hong Kong’s property agents could lose their jobs next year if the government persists with its real estate curbs.

The incessant rise in property prices forced the government of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to introduce measures to dispel concerns of an asset bubble.

Leung had earlier said the government won’t ease the curbs until there’s a steady supply of new property. Financial Secretary John Tsang said the city will introduce more curbs if needed.

Hong Kong is the world’s most expensive city for residential property. Home prices have more than doubled since early 2009 on an influx of mainland Chinese buyers, very low interest rates and a lack of new supply.