Home deals with paper losses reached 1,305 cases in the first quarter, the highest in 14 years, even after the removal of housing curbs in the end of February.
Data from Ricacorp Properties also showed that loss-recording transactions accounted for about 29.7 percent of the first-quarter deals in the secondary market, up by 3.5 percentage points from the fourth quarter of last year.
After a rise in three quarters in a row, the proportion also hit a new high after 2009.
The losses reflect the fact that more owners were offloading their homes as soon as possible after the additional housing stamp duties were scrapped by the government seven weeks ago, said Ricacorp.
The number of cases in which the selling prices equaled the buying prices was 31, with their share of the total contracting slightly to 0.7 percent.
Profitable private home sales amounted to 3,056 cases, with the proportion of all secondary-market deals decreasing to 69.6 percent from 72.9 percent.
The ratio of profit-recording deals also hit a new 15-year low, indicating that the market remains sluggish and the structural shift in the sector.
Moreover, the average gain of the secondary-market home sales was only 29 percent, plunging from 35.4 percent.
That is also the lowest in 14 years.
Around 64 percent of units sold that went for HK$4 million or below recorded a paper gain, the lowest among all types of private homes.
Hong Kong United Times丨香港聯合時報丨HKUT 