HONG KONG will slash buyers’ stamp duties for property buyers to help boost its real estate sector, while reducing levies on stock trades in a bid to kickstart economic activity in the Asian financial hub. This is the first time property cooling measures — in a variety of stamp duties known as “spicy policies” — will be relaxed. They were first introduced in 2010 to curb red-hot property prices in a low interest rate environment. “Over the past year, interest rates have risen significantly, various economies have shown moderated growth, and transactions of the local residential property market have declined alongside a downward adjustment of property prices,” John Lee, chief executive of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said. said in his second annual policy address yesterday. Home prices in Hong Kong fell four months in a row. The official housing price index stood at 339.2 in August, down 7.9% from a year earlier and 4.2% lower from April peaks. Among levies relaxed, the stamp duty that non-permanent residents have to pay for property and another levy imposed on additional properties purchases by residents will each be halved to 7.5%. Lee also announced a special stamp duty that was previously imposed on transactions involving property held for less than three years will now only apply to transactions for property held for less than two years. This levy amounts to 10% of the property price. All stamp duties on property purchases will be suspended for new foreign talent, and that will be incumbent on the new residents obtaining permanent residency. Lee announced plans to reduce the stamp duty on stock transactions from the current 0.13% to 0.1% in a bid to boost trading volumes in Hong Kong. This reduction is part of several measures, including a review of stock trading spreads and market data prices to revive activity in one of Asia’s largest and most liquid stock markets. Lee also unveiled broad ranging plans to bolster its shipping, aviation, technology, arbitration and exhibition sectors in the Hong Kong government’s attempts to boost the Chinese territory’s economic attractiveness.(SD-Agencies) | 