抗拒地心引力 香港房价屡创新高

Home Prices in Hong Kong have reached their highest point ever, according to an index compiled by one of the city's largest property agencies.

香港最大房地产中介公司之一编制的一项指标显示，该城市房价已经触及了历史最高点。

'We have three [indexes]: one is the whole market, one measures smAll units and one measures high-end units,' said Sandia Lau, a director at Centaline Property. 'All of them are at a record high.'

中原地产(Centaline Property)董事刘瑛琳(Sandia Lau)称，他们有三个指标：一个是整体市场，一个是衡量小户型住宅的，一个是衡量高端住宅的；这三个指标全都触及了纪录高点。

The Centa-City index is compiled every week by tracking recent transaction prices of 118 of the most-traded units in Hong Kong, the second-most expensive real estate market in the world. A property in the city's exclusive Peak neighborhood was just listed for HK$819.1 million, the world's most expensive home per square foot.

中原城市(Centa-City)指数每周编制一次，追踪的是香港118个交易最活跃的楼盘的近期成交价格。香港房地产是全球第二昂贵的市场，位于该城市独有的太平山顶社区的一栋房子最新报价为8.191亿港元，单价为全球最贵。

Analysts attribute Hong Kong's steadily rising prices to a series of economic and regulatory factors. A combination of low interest rates, currency stability and stringent government regulations on development have fed years of demand while buildable land, always scarce in Hong Kong, continues to shrink.

分析师们把香港房价稳步上涨归因为一系列经济和监管因素。利率较低、币值稳定、政府对开发的监管严格，这些因素加在一起，助长了数年来的需求，同时在香港总是稀缺的可建设土地继续萎缩。

'There's still a low interest rate, which makes demand a bit urgent now, ' Ms. Lau said. 'People feel the economy is quite stable, and because [the Hong Kong dollar] is [pegged] to the U.S. dollar, it attracts foreign money--people are trying to buy assets to protect their money from depreciation.'

刘瑛琳称，目前香港利率依然很低，这使得现在的需求有点急迫，人们感觉经济很稳定，而且因为港元钉住了美元，其吸引来了外资――人们试图购买资产来保值。

She also pointed out that various regulations hinder injections of new housing supply into the market. 'You can only build so many units, they have to be a certain size... When the Hong Kong government puts land on auction, they put limitations on it,' she added.

刘瑛琳还指出，香港许多规定阻碍了新住房供应进入市场。她补充称，当香港政府拍卖土地时有一些限制性要求，会对住宅单元建造数量和面积作出规定。

Prices hit new highs despite extensive government measures to cool the red-hot market. In 2012, three new property taxes were rolled out in quick succession, including a 15 percent tax on foreign buyers meant to deter speculators from mainland China. But in the two years since the measures were enacted, the index has only continued to climb, rising from 94.02 in February 2012--when the last of the taxes were implemented--to 134.14 today. (The index is anchored to prices in July 1997, which are represented by a value of 100.)

尽管香港政府已采取各种举措为火热的房地产市场降温，但当地房价仍创出新高。2012年时，香港接连新推出了三项房地产相关税收，其中包括对境外购房者征收15%的印花税，旨在阻止来自中国大陆的投机者。但这些举措实施两年以来，中原城市指数仍一路攀升，由2012年2月（最后一批税收举措实施）的94.02升至周一的134.14。（该指数基期数值为1997年7月的100）。

Wong Leung-Sing, associate director of research at Centaline, says the record-breaking market has mixed significance for the city. 'Over the last 20 years, the Hong Kong property market has been up very sharply and down very sharply,' he said, referring to how prices plummeted in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, a fact later compounded by the SARS epidemic. 'It's not very healthy.'

中原地产研究主管黄良升表示，房价创出新高对香港的影响有好有坏。他称，过去20年中，香港地产市场曾大起大落，例如亚洲金融危机过后（加上之后非典疫情爆发），房价曾暴跌。他说，这种走势不是很健康。

He also expects more records to be broken, predicting that prices will rise another five percent by the end of the quarter.

黄良升预计，香港房价还会再创新高，第三季度结束前将再上涨五个百分点。