"Mainland professionals have been clamoring for the double stamp duty to be waived for them, even before they acquire the right of abode,” Regina Ip, convenor of the government’s advisory Executive Council, told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday .
Foreign buyers of residential property need to pay a 30% levy on all purchases under measures introduced in the past decade to cool home prices. Waiving the double stamp duty may reduce that to 15%. Shares of New World Development Co. and Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. surged more than 3% after the comments.
Rising interest rates and a worsening economy are projected to weigh on property prices in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts home prices could fall 20% over the next four years. "It’s a highly desirable goal - we all hope we could make it, but everything has to depend on a scientific approach based on the data, and we have to brace for other eventualities,” Ip said.