The news that the Mainland will resume "normal customs clearance" on January 8 has been met with excitement from all walks of life in Hong Kong, and the real estate sector is even more enthusiastic.

Property agents revealed that owners in many districts have immediately adjusted their selling strategies, increased prices or even closed their properties for sale.

Some developers and large agents have told Hong Kong Wen Wei Po that they believe the resumption of customs clearance between the Mainland and Hong Kong can bring some support to the property market, and if the positive factors continue, the property market is expected to rebound by 5% next year. Some developers have also made it clear that they will launch one or two new properties in the next two months.

According to Lai Ka-man, chief senior sales manager of Midland, a flat in Suntec Plaza in Tai Po has been put up for sale for more than a year and the asking price has been reduced from $7.5 million initially to $6.2 million this month, but the owner knew yesterday that the mainland customs clearance would resume early next month and was optimistic about the future market and closed the property immediately, intending to wait for the implementation of the price increase before selling.

More than 50 transactions have been recorded in Tai Po so far this month, which is 40% more than last month; the number of viewings during the Christmas 4 holiday has doubled week-on-week.

Midland Assistant Regional Manager Lee Kam-wing also said that buyers in Tung Chung are now in a positive mood, knowing that they are getting closer to the resumption of normal clearance and no more drastic price drops; and the owners' attitude has also hardened, with the low market price "shoots" that often appeared a month or so ago almost extinct.

The owner of a high-rise unit in Block A of Yu Tung Court in Tung Chung, who was previously willing to sell it at a reserve price of $4.13 million, raised the reserve price to $4.28 million yesterday and said "no second offer".

In other areas, H.K. Lau Ho-kan, Principal Divisional Director of Hongkong Land, said the owner of a low-rise G flat in Block 8 of Tseung Kwan O Centre Phase 1, which has been on sale for more than two months, raised the price by $200,000 to $6.58 million, a 3% increase, after learning of the clearance yesterday.

Centaline Senior Divisional Sales Manager Wong Wai Ha said that the original owner of Flat B, Middle Floor, 9 Hang Pak Street, Phase 6, Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Lai Chi Kok, was still asking for $9.1 million in September, and had considered lowering the price to $7.83 million during Christmas, but countered with a price increase to $7.938 million after learning of the imminent customs clearance. During the four-day Christmas holiday, there were 30% more visitors in Lai Chi Kok than the same period last week.

Century 21 Sunrise executive director Wong Man-lung also said that the original asking price for a one-bedroom flat in Block C of Kin Wai Garden in North Point was $7.5 million, but it was raised to $8 million yesterday.

In fact, the second-hand properties have also become more active as prices continue to rise. 17 transactions were recorded in Centaline Property's top 10 estates this past weekend, an increase of more than 1.8 times from the six recorded last weekend and a new 18-week high.

On the other hand, developers believe that the resumption of normal customs clearance between the Mainland and Hong Kong will bring support to the property market. Leung Chi Kin, Chairman of Wheelock Properties, believes that the relaxation of immigration measures in the Mainland will facilitate the daily travel between Mainland and Hong Kong residents, and some Mainlanders will take the opportunity to buy properties in Hong Kong.

More importantly, the resumption of regular customs clearance will help the local retail, restaurant and tourism sectors to recover, and when the Hong Kong economy picks up and the market slowly returns to prosperity, people will consider buying their own homes.

"This year, the property market is so bad that it is not convenient to cross the border and other industries are in the doldrums, making Hong Kong a 'dead city'. He believes the new measures will help the property market "to a certain extent", and estimates that the property market will slowly improve from the middle of next year or in the second half of the year at the earliest.

In anticipation of the resumption of customs clearance between the two places, the Group expects to launch one to two new properties in the next two months.

However, he also stressed that the property market is traditionally slow around the Lunar New Year, so even if the customs clearance resumes, there will not be an immediate influx of mainlanders with large sums of money to buy property in Hong Kong.

Mr Lam Tat-man, General Manager of Henderson Land's Agency Sales (I) Division, also told the newspaper that the news of the post-permanent customs clearance is quite positive for the local property market, and it is believed that a group of mainland customers who have been "starving for properties" for too long will come to Hong Kong to buy properties first.

In fact, the group's One Innovale in Fanling sold 17 units in two consecutive days, selling three times faster than before.

He believes that the epidemic will increase in the short term after the opening of the Mainland to immigration, but will start to decline after reaching its peak, with limited impact on the overall economy.

He is optimistic about the local property market next year, predicting a 5% to 10% increase in property prices for the year. He also revealed that Henderson Land has been preparing for the launch of the property market and the "first shot" next year will be the Kai Tak project.

As for Pan Ocean (0129) executive director Guan Baolin pointed out to this newspaper that the details of the resumption of customs clearance are still undecided, but it will definitely have a positive impact on the retail market and the overall economy, and the psychological factor will also turn better.

Recently, there have been rumours that the Mainland and Hong Kong will soon resume normal customs clearance, which has led to a significant acceleration in property transactions. Therefore, it is expected that when the customs clearance is resumed, the economy and the general market atmosphere will improve and the unemployment rate will drop at the same time, buyers will follow the pace of economic recovery and enter the market.

Although the property market is affected by high interest rates, demand from home users still exists and property prices in Hong Kong are expected to be stable next year. The Group is also speeding up its preparations for the sale of its Hung Shui Kiu project, pending the granting of pre-sale consent.