香港开征印花税抑制非本地购房者

Shares in Hong Kong developers fell sharply yesterday after the government announced taxes to curb speculation in one of the world’s most expensive residential property markets, writes Enid Tsui in Hong Kong.

香港房地产开发商股价昨日大幅下挫，此前香港政府宣布开征新税，以抑制全球最昂贵住宅市场之一的投机活动。

Cheung Kong Holdings, controlled by the family of Li Ka-shing, fell 4.7 per cent; Sun Hung Kai Properties, Asia’s largest developer by market capitalisation, shed 5.1 per cent; and Henderson Land Developmentsank 6.4 per cent. Hong Kong’s largest listed real estate agency, Midland Holdings, plunged 14.5 per cent.

李嘉诚家族控股的长江实业(Cheung Kong Holdings)股价下跌4.7%；亚洲市值最大的房地产开发商新鸿基地产(Sun Hung Kai Properties)下跌5.1%；恒基兆业地产(Henderson Land Development)下滑6.4%。香港最大的上市房地产经纪公司美联集团(Midland Holdings)股价暴跌14.5%。

The benchmark Hang Seng index retreated 0.2 per cent while the property sub-index lost 3.7 per cent.

基准恒生指数(Hang Seng index)下跌0.2%，其中房地产板块指数下跌3.7%。

On Friday the government said non-permanent residents and corporate buyers must pay 15 per cent stamp duty, effective immediately – the first property tax to be targeted at non-local investors. It also raised stamp duty on the sale of property held for less than three years, in an effort to discourage short-term speculation.

上周五，香港政府宣布非永久居民以及公司买家必须缴付15%的印花税，立即生效。这是香港政府第一个针对非本地投资者的物业税。香港政府同时提高了持有时间少于三年的物业销售的印花税，以抑制短期投机行为。

Andrew Lawrence, head of Asia property research at Barclays Capital, said the move showed Hong Kong was finally getting serious, and advised investors to sell property shares.

巴克莱资本(Barclays Capital)亚洲房地产研究部门主管安德鲁·劳伦斯(Andrew Lawrence)表示，这一举措表明香港政府终于认真起来，他建议投资者卖出地产股。

The average home price is 17.6 times median household income, making Hong Kong the world’s least affordable housing market, according to Knight Frank. The rise is most notable in small and medium-sized flats, where average prices climbed 21 per cent in the first nine months of this year.

根据莱坊(Knight Frank)的数据，高达家庭收入中位数17.6倍的平均房价，使香港成为世界上最难以承受的楼市。其中小型与中型公寓价格的上涨最引人注目，今年前9个月其均价上涨了21%。

Hong Kong has become a favoured place for wealthy mainland Chinese to park their capital. The currency, pegged to the US dollar, has lost about 6 per cent against the renminbi since the start of 2011, while mortgage rates are at a historic low.

香港已成为中国内地有钱人青睐的保有资本的地方。自2011年初以来，与美元挂钩的港元对人民币汇率已下跌6%，同时抵押贷款利率处于历史低点。

The government says non-local buyers bought almost a fifth of all new properties last year, compared with 5.7 per cent in 2010. Chan Ka-keung, secretary for financial services and the treasury, on Sunday said there were signs that measures were having an effect. Anecdotal reports indicate that the number of mainland Chinese buyers fell drastically at the weekend.

香港政府表示，去年非本地购买者购买了几乎五分之一的新建物业，而2010年这一比例仅有5.7%。香港财经事务及库务局局长陈家强周日表示，有迹象表明相关政策正在奏效。坊间消息称，中国内地购房者数量周末大幅减少。

Anthony Cheung, secretary for transport and housing, on Sunday warned of similar measures in the commercial property sector if it was targeted by speculators.

香港运输及房屋局局长张炳良周日警告说，如果商业地产领域成为投机者的目标，港府将对这一领域也采取类似措施。

In his election campaign, Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong’s chief executive, pledged to make housing affordable and promised to intervene if necessary.

香港特首梁振英在竞选期间曾保证平抑楼价，并誓言在必要时采取干预措施。