Hong Kong saw nearly 8,000 sales and purchase agreements for all building units in February, a surge of 84 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the city’s Land Registry on Tuesday. Analysts predict that buyer confidence will continue to return as the property market remains on a stable path.  

The number of private property transaction agreements recorded in February jumped by 3,617 from the previous year to 7,924, for a total value of HK$62.1 billion ($7.95 billion), the official data showed. It was also 3.8 percent more than in January, which stood at 7,631 agreements.

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Among the registered papers, 6,669 were home sales agreements, marking a significant rise of more than 108 percent from February 2025.

Roen Yeung Ming-yee, senior associate director at Centaline Property Agency's research department, attributed the strong performance to the hot-selling of some large-scale firsthand residential projects ahead of the Chinese New Year.

She said the number of registered agreements in March is expected to further reflect the transaction momentum during the CNY holiday, as well as the impact of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s newly announced plan to hike taxes on expensive homes.

Last week, in his speech for the government’s 2026/27 Budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced that the stamp duty rates on residential property transactions valued above HK$100 million will be raised from 4.25 percent to 6.5 percent.

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The new policy is likely to affect roughly 0.3 percent of residential property sales, and is estimated to generate about HK$1 billion in revenue per annum, Chan said.

Escalating tensions in the Middle East may exert short-term psychological effects on Hong Kong’s property market, particularly on the secondary segment, according to Martin Wong Shiu-kei, senior director and head of research and consultancy of Greater China at Knight Frank.

Wong said although rising oil prices could fuel inflation and potentially affect the pace of United States interest rate cuts, the Hong Kong SAR’s rate movements may not fully mirror those of the Federal Reserve.

The inflow of safe-haven funds into the local market is expected to provide support and help stabilize Hong Kong’s overall property market performance, he added.  

Contact the writer at gabylin@chinadailyhk.com