HK's property deals up 8.8 pct

Hong Kong Land Registry announced Friday that 34,189 sale and purchase agreements for all building units in the first half of the year were recorded in the city, up 8.8 percent on the second half of 2013 but down 12.5 percent year on year.

The total consideration for these agreements was 212.49 billion HK dollars (about 27.42 billion U.S. dollars), up 1.8 percent on the second half of 2013 but down 14.1 percent year on year.

The number of assignments of building units was 39,066, down 3. 8 percent on the second half of 2013 and 33 percent year on year.

The total consideration for these assignments was 197.13 billion HK dollars, down 16.6 percent on the second half of 2013 and 39 percent year on year.

There were 2,171,679 land-register searches, up 1.1 percent on the second half of 2013 but down 7.2 percent year on year. (1 U.S. dollar = 7.75 HK dollars)