Of the 12 indices, 10 recorded increases in April, the most in 35 months, with increases ranging from 0.2% to 3.94%, while two cities recorded decreases, ranging from 0.44% to 0.9%.

Of the 12 indices, eight reached new highs this year, reflecting the steady rise in the property market as the Greater Bay Area cities recovered at a satisfactory pace.

Centaline Property's Chief Executive Officer, Residential, Mr Chan Wing-kit, said that the Qingming Festival holiday in April inevitably affected the pace of property transactions, but that all cities in the Greater Bay Area followed the normal pace of recovery after the epidemic, with transactions rising steadily.

Guangzhou's first-hand transaction volume rose by 8% in April compared to the same month last year, driving the index up by 0.48% month-on-month for the third consecutive month.

However, as the strength of the recovery wanes, the uptrend in all cities is slowing and transactions are showing signs of weakness.

In Hong Kong, only major new sales in Pak Shek Kok were recorded in April, with the number of first-hand transactions plunging by 50% compared to March. In early May, Hong Kong banks followed the US interest rate hike and increased the prime rate by 0.125%, inevitably discouraging buyers from entering the market.

"The Centaline Greater Bay Area Index is based on the transaction prices of primary and secondary residential properties in nine cities and two special administrative regions in Guangdong Province (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing, as well as Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions), and is weighted by the annual GDP of each city.

The Centaline Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Greater Bay Area Index is compiled in Renminbi. The exchange rate is based on the last day of each month when the People's Bank of China publishes the mid-price of Hong Kong Dollar to Renminbi. "The Centaline Greater Bay Area Index is released on the 15th of each month for the previous month.