Buyers and investors are urged to be cautious when purchasing properties in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney.
S&P Global Ratings has warned that real estate prices in Asia Pacific have hit risky levels, particularly in Sydney, Shanghai and Hong Kong, reported Bloomberg.
“Asset prices, especially property prices, today are as stretched as they were before the Asian crisis,” said its head for Asia-Pacific ratings Elena Okorochenko during a conference in Singapore on Wednesday (13 September).
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It is important to keep an eye on this risk, she noted, given the higher prices and household debt in the three aforementioned markets.
In fact, residential prices in the most and second-most expensive housing markets – Hong Kong and Sydney – respectively increased by 21 percent and 75 percent in the 12 months to June. The former’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, had earlier advised people to be cautious when purchasing real estate in the city.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Statistics of China revealed that home prices in Shanghai rose by up to 33 percent in 2016.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
