IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/revfin/v27y2023i6p2205-2232..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Tale of Two Cities: Mainland Chinese Buyers in the Hong Kong Housing Market

Author

Listed:
  • Yi Fan
  • Maggie Rong
  • Wayne Xinwei Wan
  • Zhenping Wang

Abstract

This article examines the impact of mainland Chinese buyers in the Hong Kong housing market, using complete transaction records between 2001 and 2017. We find that mainland buyers pay an average price premium of 1.4% compared with locals. The premiums are estimated to be 3.5% for large-sized luxury units and 1.6% for homes in central locations. The mechanisms that underlie the price premiums include a hedging effect, residential sorting, and information barriers, of which the hedging motive has the strongest impact. Mainland buyers’ price premiums rise significantly when the Chinese currency depreciates or China Economic Policy Uncertainty increases. Our study sheds light on the impact and mechanism of the ““China shock” on the global housing markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Fan & Maggie Rong & Wayne Xinwei Wan & Zhenping Wang, 2023. "A Tale of Two Cities: Mainland Chinese Buyers in the Hong Kong Housing Market," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 27(6), pages 2205-2232.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:27:y:2023:i:6:p:2205-2232.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rof/rfad006
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Yun & Luk, Paul, 2020. "Measuring economic policy uncertainty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Badarinza, Cristian & Ramadorai, Tarun, 2018. "Home away from home? Foreign demand and London house prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 532-555.
    3. Libertad Gonzalez & Francesc Ortega, 2013. "Immigration And Housing Booms: Evidence From Spain," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 37-59, February.
    4. Li, Qiang, 2014. "Ethnic diversity and neighborhood house prices," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 21-38.
    5. William N Goetzmann & Christophe Spaenjers & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Real and Private-Value Assets [Gendered prices]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(8), pages 3497-3526.
    6. L. Li & K. W. Chau, 2019. "What Motivates a Developer to Sell before Completion?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 209-232, August.
    7. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2008_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Dirk G. Baur & Brian M. Lucey, 2010. "Is Gold a Hedge or a Safe Haven? An Analysis of Stocks, Bonds and Gold," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 217-229, May.
    9. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    10. Sven Klingler & David Lando, 2018. "Safe Haven CDS Premiums," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1856-1895.
    11. Angelo Ranaldo & Paul Söderlind, 2010. "Safe Haven Currencies," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 14(3), pages 385-407.
    12. Fischer, Andreas M., 2012. "Immigrant language barriers and house prices," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 389-395.
    13. Andrey Pavlov & Tsur Somerville, 2020. "Immigration, Capital Flows and Housing Prices," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 48(3), pages 915-949, September.
    14. David Card & Alexandre Mas & Jesse Rothstein, 2008. "Tipping and the Dynamics of Segregation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(1), pages 177-218.
    15. Zhiguo He & Maggie Hu & Zhenping Wang & Vincent Yao, 2020. "Valuation of Long-Term Property Rights under Political Uncertainty," Working Papers 2020-105, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    16. Sumit Agarwal & Hyun-Soo Choi & Jia He & Tien Foo Sing, 2019. "Matching in Housing Markets: The Role of Ethnic Social Networks," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(10), pages 3958-4004.
    17. Albert Saiz & Susan Wachter, 2011. "Immigration and the Neighborhood," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 169-188, May.
    18. Weizeng Sun & Siqi Zheng & David M. Geltner & Rui Wang, 2017. "The Housing Market Effects of Local Home Purchase Restrictions: Evidence from Beijing," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 288-312, October.
    19. Accetturo, Antonio & Manaresi, Francesco & Mocetti, Sauro & Olivieri, Elisabetta, 2014. "Don't stand so close to me: The urban impact of immigration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 45-56.
    20. Val E. Lambson & Grant R. McQueen & Barrett A. Slade, 2004. "Do Out‐of‐State Buyers Pay More for Real Estate? An Examination of Anchoring‐Induced Bias and Search Costs," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 85-126, March.
    21. David C. Ling & Andy Naranjo & Milena T. Petrova, 2018. "Search Costs, Behavioral Biases, and Information Intermediary Effects," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 114-151, July.
    22. Borjas, George J., 2002. "Homeownership in the immigrant population," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 448-476, November.
    23. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Hunter, Delroy M., 2008. "Does hedging tell the full story? Reconciling differences in US aggregate and industry-level exchange rate risk premia," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 14/2008, Bank of Finland.
    24. Neil Bhutta & Benjamin J. Keys, 2016. "Interest Rates and Equity Extraction during the Housing Boom," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1742-1774, July.
    25. Yong Tu & Pei Li & Leiju Qiu, 2017. "Housing search and housing choice in urban China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(8), pages 1851-1866, June.
    26. Filipa Sá, 2015. "Immigration and House Prices in the UK," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(587), pages 1393-1424, September.
    27. Yongheng Deng & Maggie R. Hu & Adrian D. Lee, 2021. "Melting pot or salad bowl: Cultural distance and housing investments," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(S1), pages 235-267, March.
    28. Caitlin S. Gorback & Benjamin J. Keys, 2020. "Global Capital and Local Assets: House Prices, Quantities, and Elasticities," NBER Working Papers 27370, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Balkan, Binnur & Tok, Elif Ozcan & Torun, Huzeyfe & Tumen, Semih, 2018. "Immigration, Housing Rents, and Residential Segregation: Evidence from Syrian Refugees in Turkey," IZA Discussion Papers 11611, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Morteza Moallemi & Daniel Melser & Xiaoyan Chen & Ashton Silva, 2022. "The Globalization of Local Housing Markets: Immigrants, the Motherland and Housing Prices in Australia," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 103-126, July.
    3. Badarinza, Cristian & Ramadorai, Tarun & Shimizu, Chihiro, 2022. "Gravity, counterparties, and foreign investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 132-152.
    4. Umut Unal & Bernd Hayo & Isil Erol, 2022. "The Effect of Immigration on the German Housing Market," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202238, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    5. Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa, 2023. "Decomposing the impact of immigration on house prices," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Hippolyte d’Albis & Ekrame Boubtane & Dramane Coulibaly, 2019. "International Migration and Regional Housing Markets: Evidence from France," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(2), pages 147-180, March.
    7. Accetturo, Antonio & Manaresi, Francesco & Mocetti, Sauro & Olivieri, Elisabetta, 2014. "Don't stand so close to me: The urban impact of immigration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 45-56.
    8. Marcus H. Böhme & Sarah Kups, 2017. "The economic effects of labour immigration in developing countries: A literature review," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 335, OECD Publishing.
    9. Andrey Pavlov & Tsur Somerville, 2020. "Immigration, Capital Flows and Housing Prices," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 48(3), pages 915-949, September.
    10. Yongheng Deng & Maggie R. Hu & Adrian D. Lee, 2021. "Melting pot or salad bowl: Cultural distance and housing investments," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(S1), pages 235-267, March.
    11. Badarinza, Cristian & Ramadorai, Tarun, 2018. "Home away from home? Foreign demand and London house prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 532-555.
    12. Hippolyte d’Albis & Ekrame Boubtane & Dramane Coulibaly, 2019. "International Migration and Regional Housing Markets: Evidence from France," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(2), pages 147-180, March.
    13. Chang, Zheng, 2018. "Immigration and the Neighborhood: New Evidence from Recent Immigrants in Hong Kong," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 21(4), pages 549-566.
    14. Fabienne Helfer & Volker Grossmann & Aderonke Osikominu, 2023. "How does immigration affect housing costs in Switzerland?," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 159(1), pages 1-31, December.
    15. William N Goetzmann & Christophe Spaenjers & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Real and Private-Value Assets [Gendered prices]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(8), pages 3497-3526.
    16. Viggo Nordvik & Liv Osland & Inge Thorsen & Ingrid Sandvig Thorsen, 2019. "Capitalization of neighbourhood diversity and segregation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(8), pages 1775-1799, November.
    17. Lokman Gunduz & Ismail H Genc & Ahmet Faruk Aysan, 2021. "Buying citizenship: A boon to district-level house prices in Istanbul," Working Papers hal-03365115, HAL.
    18. Bayar, Mehmet, 2016. "The impact of cultural diversity on the German housing market," Ruhr Economic Papers 662, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    19. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Sinning, Mathias G., 2011. "Neighborhood diversity and the appreciation of native- and immigrant-owned homes," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 214-226, May.
    20. Liu, Zhenhua & Zhang, Huiying & Ding, Zhihua & Lv, Tao & Wang, Xu & Wang, Deqing, 2022. "When are the effects of economic policy uncertainty on oil–stock correlations larger? Evidence from a regime-switching analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hong Kong housing market; Price premiums; Mainland buyers; Hedging effect; Residential sorting; Information barriers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:27:y:2023:i:6:p:2205-2232.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eufaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.