according to the priority of their respective dates of registration, and that with the exception of bona fide leases at rack rents for any term not exceeding three years, all such deeds, etc., which are not registered shall, as against any subsequent bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for valuable consideration, be absolutely null and void. No notice, actual or construc- tive, of any prior unregistered instrument affects the priority of any duly registered instrument. Where, however, deeds etc. are registered within one month of execution, if executed in the Colony, or, if executed else- where, within twelve months of execution, they take priority according to the respective dates thereof. Legally the system is one of registration of deeds and not of title; but in view of the above provisions instruments relating to land are always registered promptly after execution, and the Land Registers show the devolution of title to each property and all incumbrances on it.
21. Table IV shows the number of instruments registered in each year since 1961-62; Table V, the numbers of instruments by categories in each year since 1966-67; and Table VI, the total considerations in the principal categories for each year since 1961-62.
22. A new record number of 70,793 instruments was registered in 1970-71, 11,825 (20.1%) more than the previous record total in 1969-70. The figures given in Table V show increases compared with 1969-70 in all the major categories of instruments except judgments and court orders, verandah and balcony undertakings, re-entries, and redevelop- ment notices and orders and notices of final awards under the Demolished Buildings (Re-development of Sites) Ordinance. Assignments rose by 1,837 (7.6%) over the 1969-70 total to reach the new record figure of 26,047. Of these, 1,559 were assignments of whole lots, sections or sub- sections, and 24,488 assignments of undivided shares in land coupled with the right to use one or more units in the building erected thereon.
23. With the increase in the number of assignments the total of the considerations mentioned therein jumped by $872,780,000 (52.4%) to $2,537,505,000, of which $1,735,170,000 represents the total considera- tions in assignments of undivided shares. Dividing this last total by 26,118, the number of units affected by the 24,488 assignments of un- divided shares, one gets an average consideration of about $66,400 for transactions of this type as against $47,100 in the previous year and $38,200 in the year before last. This increase is no doubt largely due to the fact that, although the number of domestic units completed during
8