Hong Kong’s home prices are no longer among the fastest growing on the planet, after months of volatile street protests destroyed demand, according to a report by Hurun Research.

The city, famous for its exorbitant property prices, has fallen off Hurun’s annual list of the top 50 cities ranked by the rate at which their house prices are increasing. In 2018, it was in sixth place after prices soared by 13.3%, but it is nowhere to be seen on the Sweetome Hurun Global House Price Index 2019.

And analysts reckon the downward trend will persist given the city is struggling to contain the deadly Covid-19 virus and has yet to fully shake off the civil unrest that began in June.

“Hong Kong, San Jose, Las Vegas and Berlin, which ranked among the top 10 last year … fell out of the top 50 this year,” said the report. The Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, which topped the table in 2018, also fell out of the top 50 last year, even as its home prices achieved 4.8% growth.

Now in its seventh edition, the index lists the 50 cities with the highest house price changes in the 12 months to Dec 31, 2019.

Hurun said Hong Kong’s home prices gained 4.7% last year, having soared 13.3% in 2018 and 13.1% in 2017.

Estimates for Hong Kong’s home price growth last year vary considerably. According to Ricacorp Properties, the average price of a new flat plunged by 25%. Centaline, meanwhile, said residential prices gained 4%.

Used homes increased in value by 5.3%, according to a Rating and Valuation Department index.

Hong Kong’s disappearance from the Hurun index will not even have reflected the impact of the outbreak of the coronavirus first detected in the mainland Chinese city of Wuhan.

Read the rest of the story @ SCMP - Cheryl Arcibal