the number of unsold completed flats and flats already under construction but not yet sold, together with the number of flats on disposed sites where construction has yet to commence, will be around 55 000 units in the next few years.
Reflecting the tight supply relative to demand, the vacancy rate for residential property declined visibly from 4.9 per cent at end-2008 to 4.3 per cent at end-2009. For non-residential property, the vacancy rate for office space rose from 8.4 per cent at end-2008 to 10.3 per cent at end-2009, while the vacancy rate for flatted factory space also increased from 6.5 per cent to 8 per cent. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate for retail shop space, at 8.7 per cent at end-2009, was unchanged from a year earlier.
On transactions, the number of sale and purchase agreements for residential property received by the Land Registry jumped by 20 per cent to 115 092 for 2009 as a whole, though this was partly due to a low base of comparison and the release of pent-up demand. Total consideration for the agreements rose by a slightly larger extent of 24 per cent, to $425.8 billion. Likewise, the number of sale and purchase agreements for non-residential property increased by 9 per cent to 18 870 in 2009, with total consideration up by 30 per cent to $89.9 billion (Chart 16).
Chart 16
Sale and Purchase Agreements by
Broad Type of Property
59
50
40
30-
20
10
0
Number ('000)
Residential property
Non-residential property
alle
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2005
2006 1 2007 | 2008
2009
Property transactions rebounded in 2009 partly due to a low base of comparison and the release of pent-up demand.
Price Movements
Inflationary pressures quickly subsided in the early part of 2009 as the economy slipped into a severe recession. Given the slack in the economy and softening import prices in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, underlying inflation turned slightly negative in July and held steady at the -0.3 per cent level for five consecutive months. Towards the end of the year, however, the slight deflation gave way to
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