This photo, taken from Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, shows residential blocks in Ma On Shan in Hong Kong on Feb 20, 2024. (SHAMIM ASHRAF / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Property sales in Hong Kong rose 57.2 percent in March from the previous month, a clear sign that the market was largely buoyed by the government’s lifting of all property cooling measures in its 2024-25 Budget.

The city’s Land Registry registered 5,013 sale and purchase agreements for all building units received for registration in March. Though it was 57.2 percent from February, the figure came 41.7 percent lower year-on-year.

Of the 5,013 sale and purchase agreements, 3,971 were for residential units

The total consideration for such agreements in March rose 65.5 percent from February, to HK$37.4 billion, while a 45.7 percent year-on-year decrease was recorded.

Of the agreements, 3,971 were for residential units, representing a 67.2 percent increase from February and a 40.6 percent fall from a year ago, the data showed.

The total consideration for residential units was HK$30.1 billion, up 57.4 percent compared with February and down 48.1 percent year-on-year.

There were 367,409 land register searches last month, the Land Registry added.

New and secondhand home sales in the city soared shortly after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced on Feb 28 that no special stamp duty, buyer stamp duty or new residential stamp duty are payable for residential property transactions, with immediate effect. Sellers and buyers of residential properties however are still required to pay ad valorem stamp duties at Scale 2 rates, from HK$100 ($12.8) up to 4.25 percent of the consideration.

Since 2010, the HKSAR has introduced a raft of property market tightening measures to cool down the sizzling housing market, with notable moves in November 2010, October 2012, February 2013 and November 2016.