HK property stocks fall on govt cooling measures

HONG KONG, April 22 (Reuters) - Hong Kong property shares retreated on Thursday after the government proposed rules requiring developers to increase transparency in their home sales to curb speculation and soaring home prices.

The measures come as mainland China announced some of its toughest moves in the past half a year to rein in prices in its own red-hot real estate sector, raising down payment minimums and urging banks to lend more vigilantly. [ID:nTOE63G016] [ID:nTOE63L00K]

Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK), Asia's largest property group by market value, fell more than 3 percent to HK$111.70, its lowest since March 5 intraday, before ending Thursday at HK$113.30, down 1.7 percent.

The blue-chip property index .HSNP finished down 1.6 percent, compared with a 0.3 percent drop in the broader Hang Seng Index .HSI.

Cheung Kong Holdings (0001.HK), the second-largest developer in Asia, closed down 1.4 percent at HK$98.95, while Henderson Land (0012.HK) fell 1.2 percent to HK$50.75.

In the latest measures, Hong Kong's government plans to increase the stamp duty on property transactions above HK$20 million ($2.6 million) to 4.25 percent and to disallow deferred payment of stamp duty for those transactions.

"The aforementioned two proposals are aimed at increasing the transaction cost of property speculation to reduce the risk of a property bubble and to ensure the stable development of the property market," a government spokesman said in a statement.

Since residential transactions above HK$20 million account for only 1.5 percent of annual property transactions, the majority of homebuyers will not be affected the measures, the spokesman added.

"Although the measures are relatively mild compared with regulations implemented in many mainland cities, we feel the Hong Kong government is getting more serious in cooling the market, with a threat of legislating the suggested guidelines if not followed by developers," RBS said in a report.

(See www.reutersrealestate.com for Reuters' global service for real estate professionals) (US$1=HK$7.76)