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A telephone survey was conducted from 23 to 25 September by Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to study the public views on property cooling measures introduced by the government in October 2012 and February 2013 and the level of property prices of Hong Kong.  821 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 45.9%.  The sampling error is + or –3.42% at a confidence level of 95%. 

Major findings are summarized as follows: 

While over three-fifths of the respondents (62.6%) said that Special Stamp Duty (SSD), Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD), and Double Stamp Duty (DSD) should be kept in their current forms, 14.1% wanted them to be strengthened further.  In contrast, 13.0% of the respondents hoped them to be loosened and only 4.0% called for their withdrawal.  As for the effectiveness of these property cooling measures in curbing the rising trend of property prices, about half of the respondents viewed them as very effective (17.7%) and quite effective (33.0%).  Over one-third (36.3%) thought that these measures produced mild results and 6.5% said that they did not see any effect. 

The respondents were also asked if they would agree with the government to introduce waivers for some of these measures.  First, while half of them (52.7%) disagreed with granting exemptions to companies owned by Hong Kong residents from paying BSD if they are buying residential properties, 20.1% approved.  One quarter (24.4%) answered “half-half”.  Second and likewise, half of the respondents (51.6%) expressed disapproval of applying exemptions from paying DSD for purchasing commercial and industrial properties and one-fifths (19.2%) agreed.  A quarter (23.6%) neither agreed nor disagreed.  Third, although two-fifths of the respondents (42.8%) disapproved the proposal of exempting charities from paying BSD when buying residential properties, 31.3% expressed their support.  22.0% said “half-half”. 

In terms of their views on the current level of property prices, while an overwhelming majority (89.2%) thought it as too high, only 1.2% of the respondents felt otherwise seeing it as too low.  7.3% said that the current level was appropriate.  The researchers also solicited respondents’ opinion on their predicted property prices over the next year.  Half of them (50.2%) thought that the price level would remain at the current level.  15% predicted a rise and 28.9% indicated a fall.  Among those expecting a rise, 15.4%, 42.3%, 15.4%, 7.3%, and 8.1% thought that the property prices would increase by less than 5%, 5-