Hong Kong to launch new property market cooling measures

HONG KONG Oct 26 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's financial secretary said on Friday a fresh round of property cooling measures would be launched given what he said was a decoupling of prices with the economy, and a continued rise in property prices despite previous measures.

Financial secretary John Tsang said stamp duties would be increased for those seeking to sell properties soon after buying them to dampen the interest of short-term investors, along with a new stamp duty for non-permanent residents.

Tsang said these were exceptional measures implemented at an exceptional time after saying the property market was "going against the economic fundamentals of Hong Kong".

The government had previously pledged to roll out further measures to moderate the city's red-hot property market as home prices rose about 20 percent in the first nine months of this year to record levels beyond the reach of many residents.

Previous initiatives by the government seem to have failed to halt the rise.

Hong Kong's de facto central bank last month ordered banks to curb home loans to borrowers with more than one mortgage to prevent the city being flooded with hot money after the United States announced an aggressive new stimulus plan to spur growth. (Reporting by Alison Leung and James Pomfret; Editing by Robert Birsel)