On the past Saturday (25th and 26th), only 4 to 6 transactions were recorded in the top 10 estates according to the four major banks. Ricacorp recorded only five transactions on these two days, a 38% drop week-on-week and a new 20-week low. The bank's president, Mr Liu Wei-keung, said that a number of new properties were launched at attractive prices to capture the market's clientele, freezing a large amount of purchasing power.

In addition, customs clearance and economic recovery have led to a positive property market sentiment, with second-hand property prices rebounding by 7 to 8 per cent, and second-hand owners shying away from selling, which has also depressed the volume of second-hand transactions. He expects that home buyers will return to the secondary market only after the focus on new sales.

According to Ricacorp, by district, Kowloon and the New Territories were the better performers, with only two transactions each, while Hong Kong Island recorded only one. Kornhill, Laguna City, Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Kingswood Villas and Ying Wan Garden each had one transaction, while the remaining five estates did not record any transactions for the time being.

Kornhill Garden recorded one transaction on the past Saturday, a 4-bedroom flat on the middle floor of Block C with a saleable area of about 594 square feet was taken up for about $9.08 million, equivalent to a price of about $15,286 per square foot.

In addition, a low-rise C flat with a usable area of about 509 sq ft in Mei Foo Sun Chuen was recently sold for about $6.48 million, equivalent to a price of about $12,731 per square foot. As a result, many customers have switched to the first-hand market for the time being, resulting in a slow turnover of second-hand transactions in the area.

Centaline Property also recorded only six transactions this past weekend, a 45.5% drop week-on-week, and five zero transactions, a 14-week low.

Centaline Property Asia Pacific Vice Chairman and President of the Residential Division, Chan Wing-kit, said that the recent new property market is quite strong, sales are hot, just this past Saturday the new property market sold more than 500 units, the second-hand transactions are obviously under pressure, coupled with many second-hand owners see the new property hot sales more ambitious, asking prices tend to be aggressive, increasing the difficulty of buyers to enter the market, is expected to wait until the new property to the corner customers back to the second-hand transactions will pick up.

Whampoa Garden also saw a sharp drop in transactions, with only one transaction recorded this past weekend, down 80% on a weekly basis, for a 639 square foot, two-bedroom, low-rise F flat in Phase 11, Block 6, at $8.38 million, or $13,114 per square foot.

In the past two days, only 4 transactions were recorded in the top 10 blue-chip second-hand housing estates in Hong Kong, one less than the previous week and a new low since the weekend of July last year.

Among them, Mei Foo Sun Chuen was the best performer with 2 transactions, followed by Taikoo Shing and Ocean Shores with 1 transaction each, while the other estates "lost their eggs".

The bank's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ma Tai-yang, explained that the first quarter saw a cumulative total of over 3,000 first-hand transactions, nearly three times higher than the fourth quarter of last year, and the recovery of the economy had stimulated the release of purchasing power.

This past Saturday alone saw the launch of two brand new properties, with some second-hand owners feeling that the property market is gradually becoming more robust and narrowing their bargaining power, putting pressure on second-hand sales.

Midland Realty's Chief Executive Officer (Hong Kong and Macau), Mr. Brahms, also believes that second-hand property prices will continue to consolidate as confidence in the property market increases and interest rates are expected to peak soon, with second-hand owners asking for firmer prices. The 10 largest housing estates in the United States recorded about 6 transactions, down about 45% week-on-week, which is also a 20-week low. Based on the top 15 housing estates, 7 transactions were recorded in the past 2 days, also down 41% week-on-week.