More Hong Kong millennials into mortgage debt

Millennials accounted for 32 percent of total new mortgages in Q2 2017, up from just 19 percent in 2013.

With the city’s sky-high property prices, more of Hong Kong’s millennials are taking up mortgages to get on the property ladder, reported the South China Morning Post citing a TransUnion report.

According to the report, millennials – or those aged between 23 and 37 – accounted for 32 percent of total new mortgages in Q2 2017, an increase from 2013’s 19 percent and making them the second biggest group after Generation X – or those aged between 38 and 52.

SEE ALSO: Hong Kong lacks land for residential use

“I’m scared that if I don’t buy now and with prices keeping going up, it will become even more difficult for me to afford a home,” shared Elaine She, a Xiamen-native who relocated to Hong Kong for postgraduate studies.

With a mortgage of more than HK$5 million, she purchased a second-hand flat in May, with her parents funding a significant part of the down payment.

Hong Kong native Cheung Po-kin revealed that he was also in the same predicament.

“Without the help of family, I couldn’t even think about buying a home,” he said, after his older brother helped him in taking on a HK$5 million mortgage to buy a new flat.

Mortgage Broker managing director Ivy Wong Mei-fung attributed the rise in millennials buying to the government’s efforts to rein in property prices.

Wong revealed that many parents opted to purchase flats under the name of their children since the government exempted first-time buyers from the 15 percent stamp duty introduced in 2016.

The TransUnion report noted that millennials were considered the “least risky” mortgage holders since more than 70 percent of them were given “super prime” scores.

This comes as fresh university graduates in Hong Kong receive an average monthly salary of HK$14,685 in their first job, revealed a survey by JobsDB.com in January.

 

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg