＜HK Home＞HK Deposit Forfeiture Cases for New Homes Surge 70%+ QoQ in 1Q24, Reaching 60% of 2023 Total

　　Yeung Ming Yee, senior associate director at the research department of Centaline Property, noted that the number of deposit forfeitures for new property sales in 1Q24 was 159, surging 72.8% from 92 in 4Q23. The number of forfeitures in 1Q has already reached 60% of 2023's annual total of 261, and it is believed that this year will likely exceed last year's level.

　　Of the 159 first-hand private residential units that saw their transactions cancelled in 1Q24, 94 have been resold as of March this year, representing a resale ratio of 59%, which is 37 ppts higher than the resale ratio of 22% in 4Q23 ending December 2023. This indicated that some developers are taking advantage of the buoyant property market to expedite the sale of forfeited flats at reduced prices, thus pushing up the resale ratio, Yeung commented.