Many current home owners are considering renegotiating their mortgages. Jim and Yuen were the kind of clients everybody is after. With the flat over 30 years old, they were unsure about getting more generous financing. Two banks offered the same terms, plus sweeteners like a loan for renovation and furniture purchases and overdraft credit. The couple went with the bank that let them use a shelf company to buy the apartment.
Some analysts point to a normal cyclical upswing.
The fall in prices has attracted buyers. There is also the expectation that more mainlanders and foreigners will move into Hong Kong to work. There are also home owners like Anthony Suen and his wife who want to move from their large 1960s apartment to a newer, smaller home which they could sell or rent out more easily if they decide to quit Hong Kong. But some worry about rising U.S. interest rates, which usually pull up Hong Kong's. His bank competes aggressively for mortgages.