Jan 27 (Reuters) – Private home prices in Hong Kong, one of the most unaffordable territories in the world, fell 15.6% in 2022 in the first annual drop since 2008, official data showed on Friday.Prices in the Asian financial hub were weighed down by a weak economic outlook and rising mortgage costs, following a COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of the year.December saw the seventh consecutive month of decline, the data showed, with prices down 2.0% from a month earlier to the lowest since April 2017. That compared with a revised 3.2% drop in November and a 2.6% fall in October.For 2023, real estate consultancies expect home prices to remain soft though stabilise in the second half after an expected peak in interest rates.Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
