As UK Immigration Becomes Possible, Real Estate Listings Surge in Hong Kong

[Image source= Xinhua News Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Real estate listings are flooding the market in Hong Kong.

This is because the UK has started offering Hong Kong residents the opportunity to obtain citizenship from last month 31st, and it is expected that more Hong Kong residents will immigrate to the UK. Although it is unknown how many Hong Kong residents will choose to immigrate to the UK, house prices are expected to fall, leading to a flood of listings as sellers try to sell at higher prices.

Hong Kong's largest real estate brokerage, Centaline, explained that real estate listings in February exceeded 38,000, a 44% increase compared to the same period last year.

Since last month 31st, the UK has allowed Hong Kong residents to come to the UK and live for five years, and after five years of residence, they are also given the opportunity to obtain citizenship. The reason the UK took this measure is due to the so-called Hong Kong National Security Law implemented by China from July 1st last year. The UK stated that the Hong Kong National Security Law would suppress Hong Kong's freedom and democracy, and revised immigration laws to give Hong Kong residents the opportunity to live in the UK. The system was implemented from last month 31st.

An anti-China politician who tried to protect Hong Kong's democracy revealed in an interview with Bloomberg that he sold an apartment he owned last month for 100,000 Hong Kong dollars. He said, "I wanted to sell it at a better price, but I sold it because prices were expected to fall further." He added, "People in their 40s and 50s seem to be leaving a lot," and "As they sell their homes, supply will increase and demand will decrease."

Another former lawmaker said he sold his apartment because the fines he had to pay after the implementation of the National Security Law were too high. He said, "There are five offenses applied to me, and the fines I have to pay are enormous," and "I sold the apartment last month for 12.7 million Hong Kong dollars." He added, "I plan to send my children to study abroad," and "I sold the apartment to cover all these costs."

China is strongly suppressing the Hong Kong democracy forces that have called for anti-China actions under the pretext of the National Security Law. The Hong Kong National Security Law defines the four major serious crimes as ▲secession ▲subversion of the regime ▲terrorist activities ▲collusion with foreign forces.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.